Guitar Lessons
by dant19955
Summary: Roxas is an anti social sophomore that has just transferred to a new high school a week ago, and he still hasn't made any friends. But after seeing Axel, an attractive and fiery Junior that's in a band, put up a flyer for teaching guitar lessons, he feels compelled to sign up for lessons with him for reasons unbeknownst to him. That moment is when everything changes. Axel X Roxas
1. Chapter 1: New School

Hey guys! This is my very first attempt writting a story on here! Please leave any constructive critisism or comments because I'm still learning the ropes! I want this to be a very story based story, with steamier moments in the future as it feels organic. I hope you enjoy!

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Moving to a new school sucks. Why did it have to be in the middle of the year? My name's Roxas, and I transferred to "beautiful" "amazing" Evanston High School because my dad transferred to a new plastic factory. So in the process my mom, sister, and I had to leave our previous lives and friends behind…. Fun.

Remembering summer nights with Ollett, Hayner, and Pence, watching the sunset while laying in the grass, eating sea salt ice cream and laughing at our pointless conversations... really isn't helping me. It's been a week and I've yet to make a single friend. It also doesn't help that me and other people don't tend to mix, so for now I'll just keep going to class. Ha, like I even have a choice! Hey, at least I'm a sophomore so there'll be time to meet someone that doesn't make my skin completely crawl in disgust when I talk to them, right?

Well, at least there's someone who seems alright. There's this guy that's in my math class and also in band with me. I think his name is Xexion? Anyway, he complimented my wristband. Looking at him though, I'm not surprised. We seem to have a similar style. I usually wear my black and white hoody half zipped up with a white or black shirt underneath, a matching checkerboard wristband, dark jeans, and black and white vans. He always wears a baggy black hoody, a black t-shirt, black jeans, black spikey wristbands, black converse, black eyeliner… a lot of black. But one thing that wasn't black was his violet hair that was styled, covering one of his bright blue eyes.

My blonde hair is always spiked up and styled too, but I think his hair is pretty cool. He doesn't say much, really he just sits there quietly and will say the occasional snide remark about what someone else said… so that's probably why we can tolerate each other.

We both play in the percussion section. I've been playing drums since I was like 9, so I guess I'm alright at playing the snare and bass drum. Xexion always plays the marimba or xylophone, 'cause I guess he plays the piano outside of class really well. Not that I'd know. He mentioned that he's in a band, so I guess there's that… Maybe he and I'll eventually hang out, who knows?

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But my thoughts were interrupted. A guy walked into the band door. He looked a year or two older than me, wearing a tight leather jacket, a black distressed shirt, a studded choker, tight black skinny jeans with holes in the knees, black combat boots, and a playful smirk on his lips. His green eyes had eyeliner and a mischievous glint in them. He stood much taller than me, towering above many of the students. His vibrant spikey red hair contrasted his eyes and outfit in a way that made him stand out even more.

It seemed like he welcomed the attention, or at least didn't mind it. I don't know what it was but I just stared at him a bit, not being able to look away out of curiosity. He was talking to Mr. Ramos, the conductor of the band, with some sort of green paper in his hands. Green like his eyes…

Anyway… He and Mr. Ramos were laughing like they were best friends or something and then he pinned the paper to the bulletin board in the front of the room. He left the room just as fast as he came in. Xexion noticed that I was staring and said, "That's Axel. He's in the band I'm in. He plays bass. Junior." Surprised that he was talking to me, all I could think to say was "Oh. Cool." as I got out my sheet music from my folder and put it on my stand. Class started and we rehearsed our riveting concert bad version of "My Girl" as I felt myself begin to slowly die inside.

After class, my curiosity took over and I found my feet carrying me absent-mindedly to the bulletin board. A couple people gathered around me and looked at the poster curiously, as most ran for the door. I looked at the poster that he pinned up. I was struck by the crudely drawn guitar and stars on it. But after reading it, I learned that it was about him giving guitar lessons.

 _Huh, Reasonable price. And I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Besides, I'm sure my parents would rather hear the sound of a guitar than the loud banging sounds of my drumkit, so I'm sure I could convince them to pay for the lessons if I kept up with my chores or got good grades or something._

Walking to my next class, Biology, I considered taking the guitar lessons with Axel a bit more. I found myself blushing for some reason and shook myself out of it, getting my biology book out of my locker. I went through the crowded hallway, squeezing through groups of people just standing in the middle of the hall. Ugh, people…

Soon I got to my next class, and as I entered the biology room, who else should I see then the very same red headed, green eyed guy smirking playfully at me. "Hey." He said to me. I was shocked to see him so suddenly, and I didn't know what to say.

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Author's notes:

Oh snap! What's gonna happen next? Hahahaha! Thanks guys so much for reading the first chapter! I'll try to update regularly when I can. Until next time!

-Dant


	2. Chapter 2: Notes

Hey! So I know I said I'd update regularly… and it's been over three weeks, so I'm really sorry for lying to you! Sorry for keeping you guys in suspense! School's been kicking my butt and I've been so busy! But the semester is done soon, so at least there's that! Anyway, without further ado, here's chapter two!

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As the sitting red head turned toward me in his seat, I felt my mouth gape as I stared back in disbelief. I looked around the room in confusion, looking to see if I accidentally walked into the wrong room or something.

While scanning the room, I heard him laugh at me and say "I had to switch classes. I used to be in the class before this but now I'm in this one instead. You're the new kid, right? Name's Axel. You're Roxas, right?"

Looking at him I could tell by his hand movements that he was trying to be friendly. For some reason hearing my name made me flush. I was feeling uncomfortable, so I just stared at him for a moment before saying "You're in my seat," gesturing to the seat in the back left corner that he was currently sitting in.

"I've been in his class so I know you guys don't have assigned seats."

"That's the seat I always sit in," I asserted.

He paused for a while. I held my ground. "Fine, it doesn't matter to me," Axel said as he chuckled and got out of his seat, sitting in the seat next to it.

"Here, you can take your precious throne, your highness," Axel said playfully as he winked animatedly.

I blushed, feeling embarrassed from being made fun of. I really didn't want to sit next to this guy… but I already made a big deal about sitting in the chair that I didn't have a choice. So, dragging my feet, I begrudgingly sat down in the seat next to Axel, scowling at him.

Then the bell rang and class started. I realized that all the students had already filed in while I was distracted showing disdain for Axel. Mr. Smith started the class talking about the insect project that was due in a month. I wasn't really listening though.

Then I saw a piece of notebook paper slide next to me.

" _You never answered me. You're Roxas, right?"_ the paper said.

I rolled my eyes. Then I was taken aback. The handwriting was surprisingly neat, actually almost elegant. I scrawled back "Why do you want to know?"

I had no problem with him. He seemed alright, actually. But I already stared being rude to him so why stop now?

Axel wrote back," Because Zexion told me about this guy named Roxas that's new. I know he plays in band with him, and I saw you next to him last class. So I figured it must be you. Zexy can't stop talking about how funny he is."

I was genuinely confused. Thinking about Zexion not being able to stop talking in general didn't sound right to me.

"Yeah, I'm Roxas. I don't believe that Zexion isn't able to not stop talking about anything though." I wrote.

I heard a soft laugh as I continued to pretend to listen to Mr. Smith talk about his diagram of moth larvae.

"Heh, you'd be surprised. If he's excited about something or into something, you can't get him to shut up about it! Although he's only like that when he's comfortable around the person. So it might be a bit before you see that yourself."

I wrote, "I still don't believe you."

He wrote back, "It's true!" And then I saw his face light up and he wrote, "If you want, you can sit with us at lunch. The whole reason I switched classes was so I could have the same lunch as them."

As I looked at the paper and started reading what he said, I could feel him staring at me anxiously, waiting for my response.

I thought for a moment. Part of me would rather just sit alone not not have to talk to anyone. But that gets pretty boring after doing it for a week.

"Okay, I guess." I wrote back.

I jumped, as out of nowhere I heard Axel scream, "Yes!" as he pumped his arm in the air, a beaming smile on his face. I saw his eyes shining. Did he really want me to sit with him that badly? I felt myself start to feel embarrassed as the whole class turned to look at us, some glaring, some laughing hysterically.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, boys?" the teacher inquired.

"No, Mr. Smith…" we both said sheepishly, in unison.

The rest of the class went by, with me not paying attention to a single thing Mr. Smith said. Axel and I wrote back and forth for the rest of the period. We didn't talk about too much, just about how I'm liking it here.

I mentioned that I play the drums, and that really seemed to interest him. He went on and on about his band! It was kind of funny, how passionate I could tell hewas about it. His eyes wouldn't stop shining.

I found myself staring at him again, at the genuine glimmer in his eyes, again not sure why. I think I was just zoning out again. Mr. Smith is pretty boring.

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't liking the attention I was getting from everyone earlier, I'd rather just blend in so people will leave me alone. But I guess as far as people go, Axel doesn't seem so bad… Maybe we could be friends eventually.

The bell snapped me out of my thoughts, as I felt Axel's gaze.

"What're you waiting for, your highness, let's go!" Axel said.

"Stop calling me that!" I yelled at him, as a got out of my chair to head for the hallway.

Axel chuckled and said, "I'll stop calling you that after you stop acting like a dick." He was smirking again, a devious glint in his eyes.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes as we walked through the door and into crowded hallway.

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I hope you guys liked the chapter! Join next time as we see what happens when Roxas joins Axel and his bandmates at lunch! Please stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3: Lunch

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a bit! I've had so many finals to study for and final projects! A lot of scrambling to get everything done! I'm done for the semester though, so I should be able to write a lot more often! Thank you so much for being patient! Alright, on to the chapter!

We made our way into the hall, and I gestured to Axel that I was going to put my stuff away in my locker. He still followed me.

"What do you want? Pretty sure the lunch room's the other way," I said, a bit annoyed with him.

Axel just smirked, shrugged, and said, "Didn't bring a lunch, so I'm in no hurry. And if I go in there now, I'm just going to be bored. Demyx and Zexy always buy their lunch."

I thought to myself that he should probably eat… but instead I shrugged and just said, "Do what you want."

He continued walking next to me, and I decided to tolerate it. I grabbed my lunch and after I shut my locker we made our way to the crowded cafeteria. Looking at how the lines for hot lunch were winding around made me thankful that I brought my own lunch, even if it was just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some chips.

I followed wordlessly behind Axel to an empty table at the far left corner. He turned his head back to me over his shoulder and said, "This is where they sit. Now shall we?" He gestured to the table, smirking.

I felt something stir in me. I think I'm hungry.

I sat down. He sat next to me. I scowled.

I then glared at him, saying, "You could sit somewhere else, you know."

"This is where I always sit. I'm just surprised that you're sitting in the seat that no one sits in. You sure you're not psychic?" He smirked at me and chuckled

Again, I felt a stir. I should really start eating.

"I think you're the psychic one. You've never sat with them at lunch. How do you know where everyone sits?"

"That's easy, we sit here before school. They always sit in the same spot. If anyone sat in the wrong seat, they'd be locked up for sure!" He said this with a devious glint in his eyes and a sarcastic smirk on his lips. Man his green eyes are striking… Geez, what wrong with my stomach.

I paused for a moment then let out a laugh. I took my sandwich out of my lunch bag, while saying in a level tone, "Hey, at least we're not in Scandinavia. There it would be the chair, if you're lucky."

Axel looked stunned for a split second before laughing loudly, adding, "People think the Germans are cruel, but Viking blood runs deep. Never mess with the Scandinavians unless you're looking to bleed." We looked at each other and then both laughed very loudly. Pretty sure that half the lunchroom was glaring at us, but I didn't care.

I felt myself genuinely smile at Axel after we stopped laughing, which was out of character for me. Axel smiled back at me too. It wasn't his usual devious and playful smirk, so it was weird to see. Again his smile seemed so genuine. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this expression…

I mean, I felt like he was saying "This kid is pretty alright" with his eyes, and he seems pretty cool too. Hopefully he keeps thinking that, so I can have at least one person to suffer with in this terrible school. I really need to start eating though, because my stomach is killing me again.

I finally took a bite out of my sandwich, when I had a moment of realization: Guitar lessons! 'I should ask him about the lessons, I'd probably like practicing with him well enough. I've known him for a day and I already don't hate his guts, which says something.'

After my first couple bites I started saying, "Hey Axe-" before I was interrupted by a hyperactive kid with blonde hair style in a faux hawk, running over to the table, screaming, "AXELLLLL! You were able to switch classes after all! Zexy's gonna be so happy! I'm so happy too! Man, we haven't been able to sit together at lunch since last year, and that's waaaaaay too long! It's been lonely without you man, I feel like we need to catch up or something! Oh hey, who are you? It's not like you to bring someone to the table, Axel! Hmm..." He and Axel exchanged a look, and Axel rolled his eyes but seemed embarrassed. Not sure what that's about...

"His name is Roxas. Roxas, this is Demyx. Don't mind him too much, he doesn't bite. That would require him to stop talking." He winked, playfully as I felt myself laugh again.

Demyx sat across from me, his face lighting up with excitement. Does this guy even know how to chill?

He said, "Oh! I know all about _you!_ You're the new kid! Word on the street is that you play a mean snare drum! That's all anyone's talking about, and by anyone, I mean Zexy! He won't stop talking about you!"

As he was talking I saw Zexion walk towards us in the corner of my eye, close to the table. 'Ha, this should be entertaining.'

Demyx, seemingly without breathing, continued, "Don't tell Zexy that I said this, but pretty sure he's jealous of your playing! He was talking about how he wished he could play the snare as good as you! Then again, I don't think he knows just how good he is on the keyboard!"

"Demyx, I didn't say that. Stop twisting my words." I heard a soft voice behind us as I saw Zexion sit next to Demyx. He hid his face behind his bangs. 'Was he… blushing? No, Zexion doesn't blush.'

"Hi Roxas, didn't know you were coming." Zexion said.

"Yeah, uh… Axel told me to join you guys." I said.

"Cool."

The rest of lunch went by pretty fast. Demyx was just as talkative as when I was introduced to him. Axel had a mischievous glint in his eyes, looked at me, and then mentioned an electronica band I had never heard of.

Zexion, with laser focus, started spouting off his review of their latest album, "Midnight", discussed the shortcomings of their new single, the appeal of the band, and I'm sure a lot more but I stopped listening.

I looked at Axel, holding back my laughter. Smirking, I whispered to you him, "You weren't kidding, once he gets worked up about something, he can't stop. Is there an off button?"

Axel just laughed and whispered back, "No, but he'll run out of batteries eventually. He always does." He smiled

'I'm actually enjoying myself with other people. What's wrong with me. Still, I should ask…'

"Hey… Can I sit here tomorrow too?" I asked sheepishly, loud enough for everyone to hear. 'How embarrassing...'

"Yeah! Sit here whenever you want!" Demyx quipped loudly, pumping his fist into the air.

Zexion said simply, "Yes."

Axel smiled at me, making me smile too for some reason, saying,"Do what ever you want."

Despite his calm disposition, I could tell that he was happy. I was also happy, probably because I didn't have to sit alone or something.

"Cool" I said, not really sure what else to say.

Looking at the clock, I realized that we only had a couple of minutes left until lunch was over. 'Man sometimes it feels like lunch goes on forever.'

Then I remembered..

"Hey, Axel. I saw that you were doing guitar lessons. I want to learn. When and where?" I asked.

His face lit up. I felt my stomach lurch again. Maybe I should go to the nurse…

He said, "My house, Wednesdays and Fridays after school. Point to my house later, it's in walking distance of the school. I can always give you a ride home if you need one. Interested?"

I felt embarrassed. I don't usually go to other people's houses. But despite myself, I said, "Sure, count me in or whatever. I'll ask my parents for the money tonight."

"Sweet, man! Just make sure to bring your guitar and I'll see you then." Axel said, beaming. He put his hand on my shoulder. Embarrassed, I brushed it off.

"Yeah, sounds good." Then, yet another realization struck me.

"Wait… I don't have a guitar yet and I don't think my parents would get me one." I put my face in my hand after saying this.

How embarrassing...

Thanks for reading! I really hope that you liked the chapter! Will Roxas be able to get a guitar, or will the namesake of this story be all for naught? Find out in the next chapter! Thank you so much guys and have a good day!

-Dant


	4. Chapter 4: The Guitar

Look! I actually uploaded within a week of the last chapter! Holy crap, something must be wrong with me! Anywhoo, on with the chapter! Edit:Hey, I reuploaded this chapter with corrected line breaks! Just letting you know!

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"You can't take guitar lessons without a guitar," Zexion said quietly.

"I guess you'll just have to share the same guitaaaaar," Demyx said in almost a teasing way, looking at Axel with a smirk. Axel glared at him. I don't understand what they're on about. Inside joke probably.

After being glared at by Axel, Demyx rolled his eyes. Without missing a beat, Demyx continued, saying cheerfully," Hey Roxas, you could totally borrow one of my guitars! I have an acoustic guitar I almost never use so I can let you use it! Just promise me you won't harm it! My guitars mean a lot to me, you know! OH! I play lead guitar and lead vocals in the band that all of us are in! You might wanna know that! So if Axel does a sucky job teachin' ya, you can always ask me!"

He said this in such an animated way that I could've sworn he was a cartoon character or something. And he talked with his hands so dramatically that I'm surprised he didn't hit anyone or knock anything off the table. 'I'm almost impressed.' I chuckled to myself.

So how does that sound!?" Demyx asked. He was leaning in closer to me across the table. 'What's with this kid?'

"Yeah that would be great. Thanks Demyx," I replied bluntly. I really was grateful, I just don't want him to see me as soft.

Axel chimed in, "Alright then, so as long as you get me the money by our first lesson, we're good. So this Wednesday sound good? And then we can take it from there."

I wasn't used to Axel talking so seriously and straight forward, so I was taken aback.

Just then the bell rang, signaling to the rest of the lunchroom that it was time to charge out of the room like a bunch of animals.

I said over the rumble of the lunch room, "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll see you guys tomorrow at lunch I guess."

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Axel. Axel said, "Why don't you join us at this table before school tomorrow? You're part of the group now." He was smirking as usual, but for some reason he looked embarrassed. I think he hates reaching out to people almost as much as I do. Either way, I couldn't help but smile.

He smiled back, that smile that reaches his green eyes. My stomach started hurting again. I need to get this checked out…

"Later." I said to everyone. We all left the lunchroom in different directions, throwing our garbage away.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Roxas." I heard Axel say.

"Huh? ...yeah." I said, as I went off to my English class. The rest of Monday passed without anything interesting happening. It was all pretty boring. After school, I got on the bus and went home. I talked to my mom, and like I thought, she agreed to the guitar lessons.

She said that at least this way the neighbors won't hate us like they would if I were playing the drums all night. Not like I promised that I wouldn't play them or anything, but whatever.

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Tuesday was okay. I joined the rest of the group before school at the table. Axel wasn't lying, everyone was sitting in their same spot. There was another guy there named Clyde that sat next to me who I guess was the drummer in their band. He seemed a bit self-absorbed, but who am I to talk.

Zexion and I talked in band. He was more talkative today. Axel and I passed notes mocking our teacher in biology as neither of us learned anything about moth antennae. It was… almost fun. We went to the table at lunch. My stomach kept hurting again. The guys were as entertaining as always.

Then after that I got home and did some research for my paper in English.

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Wednesday was fine too. I joined them at the table in to morning and Axel made me laugh so hard that the soda I was drinking went though my nose. It hurts, trust me. Carbonation doesnt belong there.

Then in biology, Axel wrote some song lyrics for a song he was writing for the band and wanted to know what I thought. They were pretty good.

At lunch, we went to our table. Axel pointed to my seat and said, "Your throne awaits, your highness. I'll make sure not to take your rightful seat!" He said it in an over-the-top voice

I rolled my eyes and said, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you..."

"Nope!" he said deviously, smirking.

The rest of the group came to the table, Demyx being twice as loud as needed and Zexion being half as loud as needed, as usual.

Demyx said, in a way that should have taken one sentence but instead took him 10 or 11, that he left the guitar for me at Axel's. Apparently the band practiced at Axel's house last night.

Axel asked me, "Hey, so are we still on for after school?"

"Um uh yeah, that sounds cool. My mom… uh I got the money. Do you want it now, or?" I could feel another stomach ache coming on.

"Nah, just bring it to my house. I'll meet you after school. How about the bench outside the front doors?"

I felt nervous for some reason and my stomach started turning again. "Yeah, I guess that's cool or whatever," I said with a little attitude to hide the fact that I felt nervous for no apparent reason.

"Awwwww! It sounds like you two are going on a daaaaaate~! I'm so happy for you guys! Please, invite me to your wedding!" Demyx said in a mockingly sweet voice.

I blushed.

"Shut up, Demyx!" Axel and I shouted in unison. Axel punched him lightly on the shoulder and I glared at him. I felt like I didn't glare to intensely though, not quite sure why.

The bell rang and we left in our separate directions. I decided to go to the Nurse's office for my stomach. They couldn't find anything wrong with me, and I told them that it comes and goes. They gave me some antacids and sent me back to class. That'll surely solve the problem, thank you nurse.

After school, I gathered my stuff from my locker and headed out the front door. Looking at the bench, I saw Axel waiting for me.

When he saw me, he looked… really happy for some reason. And I… felt really happy too. I was really starting to not hate this town.

He led the way to his house, which was literally a block from the school.

"Huh, it must be nice living so close to the school," I said while we were walking, "you never have to worry about being late."

"Yeah, plus it makes skipping school really easy," Axel said as he winked.

I already felt my stomach hurt again, yet another example of modern medicine failing me.

We laughed together as we walked to his front porch. He opened the front door and guided me in, saying "Come on in, hopefully the bodies are put away."

"Eh," I said, "I think dead bodies work in most home décor styles so I don't mind if they're out. It always provides a refreshing twist." We both laughed again as we walked into his house.

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Hey guys, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter! We're FINALLY getting to the first guitar lesson next chapter! Sorry for the wait on that! Also it might be a week or two til I update because I'm not quite sure 100% what I'm gonna write next chapter! Rest assured that I have plenty of ideas though! Until next time!

-Dant


	5. Chapter 5: The First Lesson

New chapter! Whoo! Happy Memorial Day!We left off with Roxas going into Axel's house. The story FINALLY has its first guitar lesson! Will he find any dead bodies in Axel's house? Read the chapter to find out!

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I went into Axel's house and looked around. "Wow." I said out loud without thinking. The house was gorgeous. The living room had pristine white carpets, with light brown walls. The dark brown wood from the coffee table matched the wood that made up the legs of the round glass side table and the two dark red sofas.

The side table had a lamp on it with a large white shade. There was a house plant on the floor, a red and white rug, and elegant wooden frames that matched the rest of the wood in the room framed pictures of I'm guessing Axel and his mom and dad. I didn't know anything about home decorating, but even I knew this was well put together.

"Yeah, my mom's pretty good isn't she," Axel said quietly, smiling. I nodded. He continued, "Yeah, she likes watching the home improvement channel and reads home decorating magazines. It's what she does to keep busy. She changes our living room at least once a year. She says it never looks good enough."

I could tell that he liked his mother by the way he was talking about her. "So where is she now?" I asked.

"She works nights, so she won't be bothering us! Dad works nights too. But are we gonna keep gawking at the room or are we gonna start the lesson?" He asked, smirking.

"Um yeah, let's start." I said.

"Follow me," Axel said, gesturing grandly. He led me down a hallway with a door on each side and then opened the door at the end of the hallway. "After you, my highness" Axel, said jokingly.

"Will you stop calling me that?!" I yelled.

"Nope." Axel said, chuckling. I laughed too, as we entered his room. It looked very much how I thought it would.

It was lined with posters of different metal bands. The walls were painted red, and he had a leather jacket hanging on the wall next to his desk. On the other side of his desk was a tall wooden bookshelf. There was an acoustic guitar and a bass guitar on stands on the wood floor. There was also a closed guitar case on the ground.

His bed was really big, with black and gray sheets. The pillow cases matched the sheets. 'Huh, his room looks nice too. Cool.'

"Hey, you can sit on my bed man. That'll be the best place to practice."

"Oh. Ok," I said. I sat on Axel's bed. It was really soft and comfortable.

"So," Axel said, bending over while opening the guitar case, "here she is. Demyx named her Rhonda. Please treat her with respect."

"Mhm," I said absentmindedly. I couldn't stop staring at Axel bending over. 'Those jeans are so tight…' I snapped out of it when I felt my stomach lurch again. 'What's wrong with me? I think I just like the pants or something...' I looked at the floor.

Axel, with the guitar in his hands, made his way over to me. "Hey, are you alright? You look embarrassed."

"I'm uh… I'm fine, I just don't want you to laugh at how much I'll suck," I lied, not entirely sure what I was embarrassed about.

He handed me the guitar. I took it. While ruffling my hair, he said, "Don't worry about it Roxy, we all start somewhere. No need to be shy, you'll be fighting evil with the power of rock n roll in no time!" He winked at me.

"Huh, is that why people pick up the guitar, to fight the forces of evil? Also the name's Roxas." I said sternly.

"Yeah, pretty much. Comes with the territory."

"But what if I want to join..." I paused dramatically, and then finished, "the dark side."

Axel said, "Well I don't blame you, they have much better benefits. You can just be a traitor. That's more badass anyway."

We both laughed. I felt... at ease. He grabbed his acoustic guitar from his stand and then plopped next to me on the bed. He showed me how to hold the guitar, and some basic fingerings. Once we actually started the lesson, I kinda liked it. Axel was pretty good at helping me. I didn't expect him to be a good teacher.

Throughout the lesson we were joking around, and it felt very natural, like I was hanging out with Hayner or Olette back home. It was actually… kinda fun or whatever.

"Alright, that's enough for today. You did pretty good. Oh so do you need a lift?"

"Um, yeah. Thanks." I put the guitar back into the case, latched it, and picked it up.

Axel said loudly, "Oh! Here, have this." He walked over to his bookshelf and grabbed a small book. "It's a book full of guitar chords and tips for people picking the guitar up. Good for crime fighters and people on the dark side alike." Axel smirked, and then smiled genuinely.

"Thanks. I'll look at it," I said quietly.

"Cool," He said. "Now let's go."

He took me home in his car. It was pretty old and run down, but the engine worked and that's all that matters. It took like 10 or 15 minutes until we were at my house.

"Alright, uh… thanks for the ride. I had a good time. I uh… I look forward to the next lesson. See ya tomorrow, I guess." I felt myself blush. 'I don't usually say stuff that embarrassing...'

"I had a good time too. See ya tomorrow. Goodnight, Roxas." His expression seemed surprisingly soft for him. He was smiling so genuinely. I found myself smiling back.

"Goodnight." I said, and entered my house. I looked over the book Axel gave me for a bit, and then worked on some math homework. I slept well that night.

* * *

The next day started like normal. Axel and Demyx argued about something pointless, while Zexion and I talked. I guess his pet cat brought an alive bird into the house, again, so he had to chase the bird out of the house this morning.

I caught Axel looking at me a couple of times, and I just gave him a confused look. 'Is there something on my face?' I wondered. We all talked a bit more until classes started.

Before band, I talked to Zexion, complaining about my stomach aches. "They come and go randomly, always during the same times of day. It's pissing me off," I complained.

"What times of day?" Zexion asked quietly.

"Before school, in biology class, during lunch, and yesterday during the guitar lesson. And of course the nurse is completely useless," I scoffed.

Zexion had a very interesting look on his face. 'Is he… smirking?'

"You're kidding, right?" Zexion said, laughing. "It's pretty obvious. What do those times have in common?"

"Well, besides guitar lessons, it's at school. Maybe school makes me sick. Wouldn't surprise me."

"You aren't sick. You like Axel, and so you feel you heart beat faster around him."

I felt my mouth gape wide open. "You're crazy! I don't like him. We're both guys!" I found myself yelling, people looking at me confusedly. I felt myself blush.

"Well that hasn't stopped Axel in the past. He dated a guy from West View a while back. Name was Seth."

At this, I felt some feeling I'd never felt before. Not sure what that was.

"Listen, I don't like Axel, or any other guys. I don't swing that way." I said angrily, but a bit softer so I didn't draw more attention to myself.

Zexion said, coolly, "Look, all I know is how you guys look at each other. Axel's a good guy. I think you guys would be great together." He gave me a light, knowing smile.

Before I could respond, the bell rang and we started class.

I found myself distracted the whole period. My playing probably sucked. 'Zexion has a wild imagination. Me and Axel? We're both guys! The way I look at him… it's just me spacing out! That's all! Zexion is completely wrong… right?'

* * *

Hey! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sure that the whole "stomach ache" thing is annoying the crap out of you, but who knows… maybe Roxas will accept his feelings! Or maybe he won't! You'll just have to read the next chapter and see!

-Dant


	6. Chapter 6: Band Practice

Hey, warning! This chapter has mature language! Like quite a bit of it! And internal conflict! Whoo! You have been warned! Enjoy!

* * *

I wanted to skip next period so I didn't have to see Axel right now. I… don't know what I'm feeling, but I'm pretty sure it's not stomach problems… This is such a fucking drag.

Still, I decided that I still should go to class. Besides, it's probably nothing. Again, he's a guy, so it's nothing.

Yeah…

The bell rang, and I told Zexion that I'd see him at lunch. He nodded.

* * *

I starting walking to biology class. I got my things from my locker, feeling nervous. 'What the fuck is wrong with me, Axel is cool. There's no reason to be so god damn nervous. 'Get it together Roxas. You're just friends." A moment passed as I was walking to class. 'But what if part of me want to be more than friends..."

"GAH!" I yelled in frustration, slamming my locker and grabbing the attention of everyone in the hallway. I swear, the people in this school think I'm insane.

Either way, I don't like Axel.

* * *

I entered the biology room, and saw Axel sitting in his usual seat. Part of me wanted to turn around, but he was already smirking at me, waving. 'There goes my chance to run,' I thought, half joking.

We talked a bit before class, about how the first lesson was. Actually talking to him, I didn't feel nervous. I felt that feeling I've been feeling around him though. Still not sure what it was.

Class started, and Mr. Smith talked about the thrilling topic of moth diets. I didn't want to die of "excitement" and so wrote notes to Axel instead.

"Hey, you're doing great in the lessons already. Do you want to come to band practice? You can see how good you'll be with some work and practice." Axel wrote.

I looked at Axel, who was looking anxiously over at me.

I shrugged, pretending not to be excited or care. I want him to think I'm cool… Because I am!

I wrote back, "Yeah, I guess."

I looked up at Axel. He seemed so happy, beaming at me.

I felt really happy too. I like when Axel's happy… Ugh, this is frustrating…

I felt myself blush. Kill me now.

We still had a good conversation though. I like talking to him. I feel like myself. Or whatever.

The period ended, and with both of us clueless as to what a moth would eating if it joined us at our table, we headed to lunch.

In the hallway, I said over the noise, "Hey Axel, why don't you ever bring a lunch? Or buy one?" I finally decided to ask that.

"Gotta keep my figure somehow, right?" He replied, smirking.

I looked at him, concerned. 'Why am I so concerned?'

He stopped smirking, and said, "Honestly I just don't get hungry until the period after lunch. I always eat in my math class because my teacher doesn't give a shit. Are you okay, Roxas?"

'Huh, am I okay? That's a loaded question. No idea what I'm feeling at the moment.'

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"Alright, just wanna make sure. You seem off or something." He looked concerned now.

"I'm… I'm fine, alright." I said, slightly angry

"Okay, just… Just let me know if you need to talk or something, alright?" Axel said, looking genuinely worried.

"Fine," I said back.

'Gah! Why does he have to be nice when he's not being a dick? It's annoying.'

Lunch was fine. The whole period was Demyx excitedly talking about how excited he was about me going to their band practice.

It's not that big of a deal. It's just their practice. At Axel's house. Apparently in his garage. No big deal.

Lunch finished, seemingly without Demyx taking a single breath. I found myself looking at Axel. Probably because I was tired of hearing Demyx ramble on.

Was it my imagination though, or was Axel looking at me as much as I was looking at him?

I felt my heart stir, as I looked down in embarrassment. 'No, there's no way.'

Zexion noticed and laughed softly.

I rolled my eyes and glared at him.

* * *

We went our separate ways after lunch, and then met up together after school at the bench. Clyde was there, with his brown, spiky hair and dark brown leather jacket and blue jeans.

As we walked to Axel's house, Clyde pulled me aside to the back of the group. He scoffed at me and said quietly, "So you're coming along too, huh?"

I stopped walking, continued walking, and then said pointedly, "Yeah, do you have a problem with it?"

Clyde said, "Yes, I do. Practice is for members only, not pathetic groupies."

I laughed and said, "I don't even know the band's name or anything about your guys's music. I came because Axel invited me. Figured it would be rude to say no, not that you care about not being rude."

"Whatever, asshole." He shoved past me.

'Isn't he nice. Whatever.'

We made it to Axel's house and entered his house, going through the living room and the kitchen. The kitchen had a rustic feel to it, with antique signs and wooden white cubards and counters. There was a wooden table with flowers in a white vase, and 4 wooden backed, cushioned chairs. It felt like… home.

'Ha, Axel's mom really is good.'

We then went through the kitchen and opened the door to his garage, where they practiced at least twice a week apparently. Axel swears his parents know that they practice, but since they're never home because they work, I don't know if I believe him.

I doubted that his garage could be as good as the rest of his house. The design of the room shut me up though. "Axel… your mom is incredible." I said, in aw.

"Yeah, she's pretty hot," Clyde said.

"Dude, gross! Roxas was talking about how great the rooms are! She outdoes herself every time! I swear, she should make showrooms! She could make a lot of money!" Demyx said cheerfully.

The room had a classic car garage feel to it, with tools lining the walls, a work bench covered in projects, and pictures of family and classic cars lining the walls. There was also a neon sign that said "Auto Shop" and there were a few barstools. This felt like a great place to just hang with friends.

In the corner, there was a drum-kit, some amps, a keyboard, microphones and a bass and lead guitar. Axel and Demyx took their guitars out of their cases and then hooked them up to the amps. Everyone set up.

I have to admit it, they're band is pretty good. It's called Teenage Rebellion, and I guess the best way to describe them is early Linkin Park. Demyx sings the soft, whine vocals while playing lead guitar. Axel plays bass and sings the hard vocals. Zexion does back-up vocals and keyboard. Clyde plays the drums.

It was a cool blend of hard, edgy angst rock and emotional, whiny piano. Pretty cool.

The drums though…

I've played the drums before, so I could tell that Clyde had no idea what he was doing. He was mostly on beat, but it was so simple. Compared to everyone else, it was pretty lame.

The lyrics were pretty cool though. I guess most of the angsty, hard lyrics are written by Axel and the more thoughtful, emotional lyrics were usually written by Zexion.

While they were practicing their song "Man Against the Machine", which was a song about a teenager going against the business job his dad wanted him to have, I found myself again looking at Axel. His..eyes are just so beautiful… and he just looks so cool when he's playing. He gets so into the music that you can feel him through the music.

I really like that.

He looked back at me while Demyx was singing and winked. I felt my heart melt.

'Shit.' My face grew red.

'I think I… really do like him. What do I… What do I do?'

They then practiced another song called "My Dark Little Memories", a song that Zexion told me is about things you'd rather forget. It was also pretty cool. A lot of changing dynamics.

While they were working on a couple things with the song, Demyx told Clyde to amp it up a bit at a certain part. Clyde yelled, "I don't want to overshadow the rest of the band with my playing. Not that it's hard to do!"

"Hey! Stop it! We both know that you can play better than you have been. You don't even try anymore, man! And it's not for the 'good of the band', it's because your so arrogant that you don't even fucking care!" Axel yelled.

"Whatever, I'm outta here. This place blows. Later." Clyde yelled back, and stormed off, slamming the door after him.

"Dick." Zexion said, making all of us laugh.

"Is he… always that charming?" I asked though my laughter.

"Axel said, rolling his eyes, "Only the last few months. He used to be chill. Used to play a lot better. He just kinda stopped caring and started thinking that he's better than everyone else. Now he's a prick."

"Are you gonna keep on putting up with his shit?" I asked, getting serious for a second. "You guys deserve better than that. Especially with how lame his drumming is. You guys are so much better than that and put everything into it. Especially the lyrics of Man Against the machine. They really speak to something, you know. And then he doesn't even try. It's bullshit!" I blushed. I don't think I've ever said so much to them before. They all looked surprised. So embarrassing. They're gonna think that I care or something… not that I don't…

Axel looked serious, but kinda perked up and smiled a bit, before saying,"I.. uh wrote most of the lyrics for that song, so thanks man… We'll talk to him and see what we can do. When he tries, he's good, and he used to get along with everyone. So we'll see, maybe he can stop being such an asshole."

"Yeah..." Zexion said, kinda trailing off. 'That's kinda odd...'

Axel locked eyes with me again and then walked over to me. He smirked and said, "Do you really think that I'm that good?" He put his hand on my shoulder.

I blushed, and then said playfully, "Hey, I said all of you were good! Pretty soon you're gonna be as arrogant as that dick bag!"

"Hahaha, I don't think that's possible!" Axel said smirking. We all laughed. Axel said, "I'm glad that you like our band though. Feel free to… uh… come over whenever and check us out." 'Is he… embarrassed? Huh! He's probably as awkward as I am with inviting people over.

"That uh… sounds great. Thanks Axel." I said, blushing.

"No problem, man," He said, while smiling at me and ruffling my hair.

'Shit… I really like when he does that. He seems so...laidback, and… chill.'

Demyx chimed in, "Well lover boys, it seems like practice is over after Ringo's temper tantrum. I'm giving Zexion a ride, want one too Roxas?"

Both Axel and I rolled our eyes at his comment.

"Nah, I'm..." I paused for a bit, smiled, and then said "I'm good. Thanks for asking."

Demyx shrugged, looked between Axel and I and then laughed before grabbing his guitar and leaving with Zexion.

"So, it looked like you really liked our music. Ever think of joining a band yourself" Axel asked as we made our way out of the garage to his car.

"I don't know, maybe. I used to always be in track until I moved here, so I never had enough time. I think I wanna settle in a bit more first before I get stuck doing something though. Gotta admit though, besides Clyde, you guys are pretty good," I said. I felt like I could be more open, because Axel seemed so interested in what I had to say.

Axel started the drive to my house.

"Well if you decided to play drums with us, I'm sure no one would mind you replacing Clyde. I gotta say, I'd love to hear you jam with us. And you're pretty funny too. And you're a dick, but a good dick." Axel looked so happy when saying this but looked so embarrassed. 'It's prolly hard for him to compliment people, too.'

"I don't know… maybe. Also, I didn't know you liked a good dick, Axel?" I winked at him playfully.

"Only if it's yours, Roxy!" Axel play flirted back, ruffling my hair.

'Fuck, this is fun! I'm just… kinda sad this isn't happening for real. Sometimes life sucks though, there's no changing that.'

He asked me a bit about track and and drumming.

After some more driving, we got to my house.

Everything again just felt so natural… If only things ever worked out in this world, but I know better than that. Still… He's pretty amazing…

I smiled softly at him. He smiled softly back.

I opened the car door and left. I heard him open his door and he wordlessly walked me to the door. It felt nice.

He smiled at me and said, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Roxy. Can't wait for our next lesson."

"Yeah, see you then man. Can't wait. Night man." I smiled back at him.

"Night." He said softly, as we looked at each other for a while. 'He's so gorgeous...' I felt myself blushing and my heart skipping a beat. He was blushing too… Gah, I probably weirded him out by staring at him so long!' I turned away and went through the door.

* * *

My annoying sister Namine ran up to me and said, "Oooooh! Who's your friend, he's so hot!"

It didnt take a genius to look at the open curtains and guess that she peeked through the window.

I flushed, glad she didn't realize that I was thinking the same thing a minute ago.

"It's none of your god damn business, now go to bed!" I yelled at her, making my way to my room.

"Oooo! I'm gonna tell mom that you said that and you're gonna be in trouble!"

I just rolled my eyes and then went into my room. 'Well this was an interesting day.'

I finished my homework, ate dinner, and then went to bed, remembering how good Axel looked today and how caring he was to me. 'Fuck' was the last thing I thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Well there you go! I hope you enjoyed! The chapter was like over twice as long as normal, so hopefully that's alright! Hahahaha! I'm officially done calling his butterflies "stomach aches", you're welcome! Now that Roxas is finally admitting his feelings toward Axel, what's gonna happen? Are things going to get steamy? Find out next chapter! Thanks for reading!

-Dant


	7. Chapter 7: Lemonade

Hey guys! So this chapter is for adults… there's strong language and sextual themes! Reader discretion is advised!

* * *

It's been two weeks since the first guitar lesson, and the lessons have been pretty good, actually. I'm getting better thanks to Axel. I don't think it's just because I'm ugh.. biased. Axel's actually really good at teaching.

Unfortunately, my little crush on him hasn't disappeared yet… and I kinda think that it won't anytime soon. It's been hard to stop looking at him since I've realized my crush, but I don't think he's noticed, thank god. Besides, he doesn't like me, so even if he did notice it wouldn't make a difference.

Anyway…

They decided to keep the douche bag drummer… Guess he promised to be nicer to everyone and actually try. I've gone to some of their practices, and yeah, he's actually really good, hate to admit it. Not that I'd say that out loud.

He didn't threaten to beat me up, but just because he's playing nice doesn't mean he isn't a dick.

Whatever, I'm not in the band or anything. Can't change their mind.

* * *

The school bell rang, snapping me out of my thoughts. Class was out. Finally. I got all my stuff from my locker and then met Axel at our spot.

He was waiting for me, sitting on the bench outside. He smiled, waved at me, and then stood up. I smiled back, feeling myself blush.

"Hey," he said, "so you were in track, right? Wanna race to my house?" He looked at me deviously, smirking.

I laughed, smirked back, and said playfully, "Only if you think you can keep up!"

He laughed, looked back at me, looked down for a second, looked back at me, and then said, "Let's do it! First one to touch the front door wins."

"Heh, got it. On three?"

"Three, two, one..." we said together, as we got ready.

"Go!"

We started running to Axel's house. Axel was surprisingly keeping pace with me pretty well. I looked at him in surprise and he smirked. I felt my backpack bouncing on my back.

But then I pushed forward and outpaced him, touching his door, panting. 'Man, I miss this.'

Smiling, I turned back, seeing Axel a little behind me. "I think I won," I said, beaming at him. He seemed really happy too, as he walked toward me. He was smiling and panting next to me. He was so close to me…

I could feel his body heat radiating next to me, and all I wanted was his arms around me… 'fuck, I hate myself…'

"Are you going to open the door?" Axel asked, laughing.

I felt myself blush. "Uh, yeah. Spacing out, man," I said, as I opened the door and walked in. 'God, I'm glad he doesn't know what I'm thinking.'

"Hey, my mom made some lemonade for everyone, want some?" Axel asked.

"Is that a question?" I asked, smiling.

* * *

We walked over to his kitchen and he got a couple of glasses out of the white cupboard. Then he went to the fridge, opened it, and grabbed a glass pitcher of lemonade.

I sat down in one of the chairs at the table as Axel poured the lemonade into two classes and gave one to me.

"Thanks." I said. Then after a bit of a silence I said, "Gotta say, you held your own, running here. I'm surprised."

"Don't sound so shocked Roxy!" He faked an offended tone. He continued,"I actually work out every morning before school. There's a gym in the basement. Also I run 4 miles twice a week."

I was surprised about this, actually. He talked a lot about different games he played, so I figured he did nothing but play video games all day.

"Yeah, my dad got me into using the gym, and I oddly really like it," Axel said sheepishly, laughing while stoking the back of his head with his hand.

I took a sip of the lemonade. 'wow, this is pretty good. Is there anything Axel's mom can't do?' I said, "It's a good thing I brought my guitar to your house yesterday at band practice, or you might've won. Don't think I'd be able to run too well with a guitar case in my hands."

Axel laughed, before saying, "Are you kidding me? That's would've been your secret weapon. You coulda used it like an item from Mario Kart and chucked it behind you, hitting me!"

I laughed, and said, "And endure Demyx's wrath at destroying his precious guitar? No thanks!"

We laughed a bit more, and after the laughter died down I said a little more seriously, "You know, I kinda miss it."

"Miss what?"

"Running, it feels like so long since I've really gotten to run, even though it's only been like less than a month." 'Am I talking too much?' I wondered.

"What's stopping ya. Running's free ya know."

"Well yeah," I said, "but I'd rather not run by myself. I used to run with my friend Hayner back home, but obviously I can't now..." I think I looked a bit upset… honestly I'm surprised I brought my old life up. I really miss my friends… "running alone just isn't the same I guess.."

"Yeah, it's gotta be hard, moving away from your friends. But you got new friends now. You got Demyx, Zexy, and me now. And there's Clyde, I know how much you like him," Axel said, looking very sincere.

"Yeah, I know… Thanks man." I replied.

I drank some more lemonade, and then his face lit up, as he said, "Hey! Do you wanna go running with me sometime? I'm uh… always looking for someone to run with. That sound good? Only if you, uh, want to..." He kinda trailed off at the end, looking embarrassed after his initial enthusiasm. ' Huh, that's not like him… He doesn't like making plans though so it's nothing.'

"Yeah, that sounds, uh, okay. When though?"

"Seriously!? That's great dude!" He was so excited, and he ruffled my hair. 'God, I love when he does that.' He continued after a moment, saying "I'll text ya when." he was still beaming, as I felt myself melt like an idiot and smile back lamely.

"Okay," I said. I exchanged numbers with everyone a while back, but besides talking to Zexion a few times and answering some of Demyx's questions, I haven't really texted them. Honestly, as lame as it is to admit it… texting Axel would be pretty great…

We finished our lemonade, and then we went into Axel's room to start practice.

* * *

We continued where we left off, with me practicing some chord progressions. He gave me some helpful tips on making sure I transitioned between chords smoothly.

Guitar practice went pretty well. I'm getting better each time. Again, Axel is really good at teaching me. He could probably teach an actual class. 'But part of me doesn't want to share…. Fuck, that's embarrassing to think… I'm such an idiot...' I felt myself blush at how stupid I am.

Thankfully Axel was in the other room, getting some more lemonade for us while I was putting away my guitar and packing everything up. We usually would talk a bit after practice in his room, so I waited.

After another minute he came in with two glasses of lemonade, smiling almost gently at me. I felt myself blush a little. 'I love his smile… He looks so nice when he smiles...'

Slightly distracted, I reached for the lemonade in his hand, accidentally pushing and spilling it on his shirt.

"Fuck! Man, I'm sorry!" I said, feeling terrible for spilling on him.

Axel just laughed, and said, "Don't worry man, it's not a big deal," as he walked over to his dresser and set the glasses down. Then he opened one of his drawers and pulled out a black shirt. ' Does he own anything that isn't black or gray?' I wondered.

Then he removed his leather jacket, as I saw his bare arms for the first time. His biceps were well defined and there was a vein that bulged. ' Fuck, he's hot… Why does he never remove that jacket?'

"Hey, hope ya don't mind. We're both guys." he said, as he started peeling off his shirt.

'Fuuuck,' I thought, as I started looking up and down at his muscular chest, well defined abs, and strong biceps. 'Why are you so fucking hot, Axel...' I felt myself start to drool as I continued just staring at his body… I couldn't do anything else, almost paralyzed. 'I would love to have his hot body around me...' I thought, as I felt my pants tighten.

Then I realized, ' Fuck, I've been staring at him for a while and he hasn't moved,' and looked up.

Axel had a weird expression on his face, a mix of surprise and lust. 'But wait, he doesn't like me...' He started walking over to me, as I kept looking at his naked chest, my heart racing. 'fuck fuck fuck!'

Part of me wondered what it would be like to lick the lemonade off his abs, as I felt my pants tighten even more, my eyes glazing over in lust.

I felt a hand on shoulder, as Axel leaned into me.

I breathed in his scent. ' Fuck, he smells so good...' as my mind started going blank.

Then I heard Axel whisper, voice veiled in lust, "Do you need help with that, Roxy?" as I felt my member throb with need.

Axel's hand that was once on my shoulder started trailing down slowly.

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck!' feeling myself lean into his soft touch as his hand grabbed my crotch softly. I let out a long moan, feeling intense pleasure. 'This feels so good, but what do I do?'

But then, I suddenly remembered that I had never done anything like this. I didn't know know what I was doing and didn't want him to laugh at me… and I panicked…

"I, uh… um… I...have to go!"

Without fully thinking I... kinda pushed Axel away, grabbed my stuff, and ran out of his house without looking back, my still hard member distracting me the whole walk home... like a fucking idiot.

I wasn't able to fully process or understand anything at that moment except for horniness and crazy embarrassment. 'What the fuck just happened?'

* * *

Hey, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hope my slightly steamy scenes weren't too awkward, hahahahaha! I'll see you next chapter! Thanks guys!

-Dant


	8. Chapter 8: Confessions

Hey guys! Last chapter was pretty crazy! Just what's going to happen next? You'll just have to read to find out! Enjoy, guys!

* * *

I woke up the next day, still trying to get over what happened the day before, having a hard time not being, uh, distracted…

When I got to school in the morning, I looked around. 'Where's Axel?' I wondered. 'He's usually here by now'

Demyx came up to me, looking serious. He never looks serious, so it scared me a little. He said quietly, "Hey Roxas, can we chat for a bit?"

I looked at him, confused, and then nodded. 'Demyx is also never quiet... this must be serious.'

He gestured to follow him, as we both walked to an empty table. "So," he said quietly, "what happened yesterday? Axel canceled band practice tonight, which he never does. He was fine at school yesterday, but it looks like he skipped today, which he only does when he's upset about something. Did something bad happen yesterday at guitar practice? He won't answer me when I ask him."

I felt myself swallow and look down. "I have no idea, nothing happened at practice, really," I blatantly lied.

He looked at me suspiciously, and then said, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, guitar practice was normal."

"You didn't like, reject his feelings or anything?" he asked evenly.

"Wait what?! What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, completely shocked. 'What does he mean by feelings?'

Demyx chuckled and said, "You guys are practically dating, right? So I'm wondering if you said no to dating him or something. It has to be pretty big if Axel canceled practice."

Confused, I said, "Uh, Axel and I are just friends. He doesn't, uh, have any feelings toward me."

I heard loud laughter, as Demyx said, "Are you even paying attention, man? He never takes his eyes off you, and never stops talking about you! You guys always look at each other, and blush around each other. Like it's so obvious, man!"

"Wait, seriously? Are you sure?" I said, trying not to sound hopeful and failing.

"Yeah man, trust me! I just hope he's okay... Maybe I'll check on him later..." Demyx said, trailing off at the end.

"Don't worry, I'll meet up with him during bio. I uh, think I should talk to him," I said quietly.

"Okay man, I wish you guys luck!" He winked at me, patting me on the shoulder.

"Shut up," I said, punching him on the shoulder, while I blushed. He laughed, as the bell rang.

* * *

Other stuff happened but I don't care about that. I texted Axel, "Hey man, can we go for a run during bio?" double checking to make sure it sounded natural. 'I hope he's alright… God, I… really do care about him… fuck.'

I waited… and waited… It felt like it took forever, but he finally replied while I was walking out of the band room, "Sure, but make sure someone takes notes for us." I laughed loudly, as I put my stuff in my locker and then walked out of the front doors.

'Man, they make this easy,' I thought, while I walked to Axel's without being stopped or anything. 'I'm glad Mr. Smith always forgets to take attendance.'

As I walked to Axel's door, nervousness washed over me. I knocked on the door.

A woman opened the door. She was tall, slim, and had long blonde hair. "Hi, can I help you?" She smiled kindly.

I felt my mouth gape open a little bit. I was expecting Axel. 'Oh, that's right. Axel's mom works the night shift. I recognize her from the pictures.'

"Hey, uh, my name is Roxas. Is Axel home?"

"Yeah, he's feeling a little under the weather..." a moment passed and then she said, "Wait, Roxas? Axel's giving you lessons, right? He talks about you all the time!" She seems so nice. I felt myself blush, hearing her words

"I'd like to see him, to see if he's okay."

She smiled, and said, "I'm sure he'd appreciate that. But wait, can I ask why you're out of school right now?"

I looked into her vibrant green eyes. 'Huh, looks like Axel got his eyes from his mom.' I said, a little shakily, "I, uh, have free period right now." ' Fuck, I suck at lying.'

She nodded, knowingly, and said with a light smile, "How lucky! I'm glad you're not missing school. It's important, you know! He's in his room" She smiled. 'Fuck, she knows! She's sharp.'

Despite myself, I laughed quietly, and said, "Thanks," nodded to her, and made my way to Axel's room. Then I stopped, looked over to her again, and said "Hey, I like what you've done with the place." I felt myself blush, but the rooms really are nice.

"Thanks, that means so much! I put a lot of work into the house, you know!" She was beaming and so excited. I found myself smiling, as I arrived at Axel's door.

I felt the wave of nervousness return, as I knocked on his door.

"Hey, come in." I heard from the other side of the door, as I felt even more nervous.

I opened the door, and saw Axel sitting on his bed. He looked at me for a moment and then looked down. I looked at his eyes. 'He hasn't slept. He looks so sad...' I felt my heart drop. 'fuck, what do I even say...'

A moment passed in silence, the moment dragging on for what felt like a long time. Finally I said softly, "So are we going for that run?" I looked at him.

He looked at me solemnly.

He looked down again and nodded.

We left his room and as we made our way to the front door. Axel told his mom, "Hey, I'm gonna get some fresh air," and she said alright.

We made our way out of his house, and I said, "lets jog to start so we can talk."

"Okay," he said, none of his usual deviousness in his voice.

* * *

We started jogging, both of us keeping pace with each other.

After a bit of jogging, I nervously said, "Uh, Axel… so is uh, everything alright?"

"No, not really."

"Oh… I'm sorry," I said, sincerely meaning it. ' I don't know what's wrong but I want to help...' There was a short pause.

Then I heard a short laugh, as he said, "You're sorry? Why are you sorry? I'm the one that should be sorry. I'm the one that did something wrong."

I stopped for a moment, mid-jog, in surprise. The amount of hurt in his voice… It was hurting me, and I felt my heart sink.

Then I started jogging again, catching back up.

"What did you do that was wrong?" I asked, genuinely confused and worried.

"I… I forced myself on you Roxas!" He looked very angry, as he started raising his voice. Then he said softly, 'I thought you liked me, at least you gave me that impression. I thought you wanted to, uh, do something together but then I uh… touched you before you said it was okay, against your will. So I feel terrible, and hurt because I thought you shared the feelings I have for you and then I went and fucked everything up." We both sopped for a moment, our eyes connecting. 'He looks so hurt and confused...' I felt my heart sink again. I heard him try to catch his breath.

Axel had none of his usual bravado as he said all of this, and everything he said was a lot to process….

'He's being so open with his feelings... I think I should...be honest.'

After a while of looking at each other, I gestured towards a bench near us. We were by a park.

We sat on the wooden bench.

I thought to myself, 'thank god no one's here to hear this..." before saying nervously, blushing furiously,

"Axel... you got it wrong. I... uh... I..." I swallowed, finding it hard to continue. 'Fuck, this is hard!'

Freezing up, I looked into his vibrant green eyes again.

He looked intently at me. Then after a moment his eyes softened, as I felt his hand rub my leg gently. It was... so comforting. "It's alright, take your time Roxas," he said, his face softening. 'This expression... is so pure...'

I was taken aback by his expression, and again felt myself blush as I felt the warm touch of his hand on my knee. I felt encouraged to continue.

I swallowed again, and said finally, "The... the truth is... that I wanted you to continue... I was just scared that you laugh at me. I've uh... never... done anything like that before, and I know you have. Also..." I paused and gulped, incredibly nervous. " Also... I..." I trailed off, until I looked into his beautiful eyes once again, and found courage to say, nearly shouting, "Also I'm afraid that I won't be enough for you! You see... I like you more than I've ever liked anyone before and..." I started saying, softly now, "and it scares me. I've... never let myself like another guy... and I really like you." Somehow I felt like I could say anything around him...and that I was safe... 'I'm so soft... but I'm kinda okay with that at the moment.'

Axel's face looked so pure again, as he smiled softly, softly smirking as the distance closed between us...

I felt his soft lips on mine, as I felt a wave of pure joy wash of me. Everything else seemed to fade away.

'Fuck, this feels so right...'

I leaned into his touch, kissing back. I felt my whole body tingle. As our lips separated, I felt myself smile softly, and he smiled back.

I placed my hand on his leg, and we stared into each other's eyes again, as time seemed to stop around us.

"So, uh... I need to get back..." I said, not wanting to leave.

"Right..." he said, clearly disappointed.

"But Axel?" I said.

"Yeah?" he looked at me

"We should do this again," I said, grinning at him. We both laughed. He nodded, and we made our way back.

"Your mom's gonna know that you lied about feeling sick when she sees that you're sweating," I said, laughing.

Axel laughed back, saying, "You make it sound like she doesn't know already." He was smirking. 'I'm so glad to see him back to normal.'

"Yeah, I believe it. She knew I was lying about being in free period right now, then again I'm a shitty liar" I said, and let out a laugh. He laughed, too.

As we kept walking back to his house, we kept joking around with each other. It felt like nothing changed. It felt natural.

Finally, we made it to his house.

" Well, I should get back. I'll see you in the morning," I said, smiling.

"Yeah, until then," he said, also smiling.

Suddenly, I felt him pull me in and kiss me softly, and I kissed him back, thoroughly enjoying the feeling.

" So... are we just friends? Or..."

I paused, thought for a moment, and i said "It's only been a month since we've met. So yeah... for now." I smirked at the end.

He smirked, and said, "Alright, let me know when."

"Yeah." I said, smiling, and I waved goodbye and made my way back to school feeling happier than I've ever felt in my entire life.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry this one took a while! A lot of stuff happened in the chapter, and I had a hard time figuring out exactly how I wanted some of the things to go, especially with the confession! I hope you all liked the chapter! Well, until next time!

-Dant


	9. Chapter 9: An Alternative Lesson

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a bit! I've been sick recently, and having a full time job is really cutting into my writing time! Also, my laptop's broken, and so I've been having to type this on the family computer, which uh, after you read it you'll be able to see why it was a challenge! Reader discretion advised! Anyway… please enjoy!

* * *

When I got back to school, lunch was already going on. Again, I had absolutely no problems getting back in. You'd think they'd keep better track of their students… but whatever.

During lunch, I think they noticed that I was in a good mood. But when they asked, I said they must be imagining things. I'd rather not tell them that I was honest with my feelings for Axel, that we kissed, and that we're working on, eventually dating.

Part of me wants to tell everyone, because I'm unbelievably happy for the first time in my life…. But that would be fucking embarrassing.

Later, in math, Zexion tried to get me to tell him why I was happy.

He started by asking how it went. I had told the group that I went to Axel's during bio. I told them that he was sick, but feeling better.

I said it was alright.

He nodded.

There was a moment of silence while Mrs. Peters handed out the algebra homework.

Zexion said, both pointedly and quietly, "So did you guys kiss?"

I was caught so off guard that I yelled, "NO! Why would you, uh, think that?" as I felt myself blushing furiously. Fuck, why I'm I such a shitty liar? I just ignored the glares of everyone in the class. I was used to it by now.

Zexion chuckled, and said, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Like I said before, I think you two would be good together."

"Yeah, whatever. We didn't… do that though" I said unconvincingly, pretending to focus on my algebra homework. I heard a soft chuckle. Honestly though, the fact that Zexion approved actually meant quite a bit, for some fucking reason.

After a bit of pretending I actually started to focus and got a lot of the homework done. I was always good at math.

The bell rang, and it was finally time to leave this stupid school… well for the second time today.

The next day came, and I was, uh, looking forward to our next guitar lesson or whatever…

All day, I found myself staring at Axel. And smiling at him… and feeling embarrassed around him. Fuck, I feel like a teenage girl or something… but I was happy talking to him… and I could tell he was happy talking to me.

The school day passed without learning anything about the different types of poisonous and non-poisonous moths. That feeling of happiness carried the rest of the school day.

After the final bell rang after Algebra, Zexion said almost smugly, "Your prince awaits." I punched him in the arm.

I got everything together, getting the guitar out of my band room locker.

* * *

Then I met Axel at our spot by the bench.

"Hey," Axel said, his bright green eyes piercing mine.

"Hi..." I said, embarrassed. Every time I see him now, I feel my heart… skip a beat or whatever...

He smiled warmly back, as we walked to his house. On the way, we had a casual conversation. Everything felt so natural with him, even after the, uh, kissing.

We arrived at his house in what seemed like no time at all, as Axel opened the door open for me and said, "After you, mad'am," in a weird accent.

"Why thank you, kind sir," I said, as I curtsied. We both laughed at how stupid we were and made our way inside.

"So," Axel said in a casual tone, "my mom made some more lemonade after I told her that you liked it last time. Seems like she really likes you." He took off his leather jacket and put it on one of the chairs as I sat down.

"Yeah, she seems nice," I said.

"Do you want some?" He asked, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"Yeah, sounds good. Thanks," I said, as he went to the cabinet and grabbed some glasses. The glasses he grabbed were on the top shelve, so he had to reach for them, causing his shirt to ride up a little. I was reminded of what happened last lesson, and felt my pants start to tighten slightly.

He put the glasses on one of the counters and then made his way to the fridge. While he was pouring the lemonade from the pitcher into the cups, I couldn't help but admire his huge biceps. Fuck he's hot.

He smirked deviously, clearing catching me checking him out, and I felt myself blush. I decided to smirk back, as I took off my checkered hoody and put it on the back of my chair. I had an idea.

He looked at me curiously, waiting to see what I'd do next. Then, I fake yawned as I stretched my arms over my head, making sure to flex my biceps, feeling my shirt ride up a little in the process. One good thing about playing the drums is that your arms look great.

I winked at him. I saw Axel look at me hungrily, staring at my body. Feeling his eyes scan my body, I felt my pants tighten even more. Fuck.

He looked away from me and handed me one of the glasses of lemonade. As I took it he said in a low, sexy voice, "You know, you don't have to spill lemonade on me again for me to take my shirt off, all you have to do is ask." He smirked seductively.

His words made me spill some lemonade on the floor, as I felt my pants tighten even more. Need was rising in me. This was getting dangerous.

Looking directly into his eyes, I said, "You know, it is kind of hot in here, I think I'm going to take my shirt off, if that's alright." Saying this I faked a look of innocence.

Axel shrugged, not taking his eyes off me as I pulled my shirt over my head slowly.

I looked into Axel's eyes, glazed in lust as his eyes took my body in. His eyes looked even hungrier, as I felt my pants get even tighter, and the need for Axel's touch was overwhelming me. Fuck, I'm so turned on…

Axel moved toward me, with that same hunger in his eyes, looking at my abs and chest. I was now happy that I used to be in track, even if it was just so Axel would find my body attractive.

I could tell he was about to move in. It took everything in me to say, "So, we should start our lesson," instead. I said this innocently, but I can't act to save my life, so he knew what I was doing.

* * *

He said okay, as we moved into his room. I could tell I was affecting him, and that was affecting me, as the bulge in my pants was clearly visible.

Remembering our first lesson, I took my guitar case and put it on the ground. I opened my guitar case, making sure to take my time, giving Axel a good look at my back. Then I bent down to pick up my guitar, giving him a look at my butt.

Fuck, I love teasing him. I felt myself harden even more.

I turned back to him. He wasn't even hiding that he was looking at me me with those hungry eyes again.

My eyes were drawn to a large bulge in Axel's tight black jeans. Fuck, he's so fucking hot. All I wanted to do was touch him, more than I ever wanted anything else. But I held myself back. Somehow.

"Okay are you ready to start, Roxas?" Axel asked, being suspiciously nice.

"I guess," I said, my voice slightly trembling as I sat on his bed, trying to predend to be casual.

I knew something was about to happen.

"Alright," Axel said, "you're actually getting pretty decent at open chords and simple chord progressions. I can tell that you've been practicing. There's room for improvement of course, but today I want you to try something more… challenging." He grabbed his guitar, and he played a chord.

"It's F Major. It's tricky." He was back in his teaching mode… but I didn't trust him. I knew he was up to something. Still I played along, literally, trying to play the chord that he showed me.

Fuck, this chord is hard. It doesnt help that all of my attention is currently in my pants…

I tried to play it, and it sounded… so bad.

"Yeah, this one's hard. You need to put more pressure on the top string. Here, let me help."

While I was trying to get the chord right he must've put his guitar down, because I felt him get behind me on the bed, putting his legs around mine. Fuck fuck fuck.

Then, he reached over and put my fingers on the frets with his. He whispered seductively into my ear, "You need to push harder." I couldn't help myself… I moaned softly.

I heard a slight chuckle behind me, as he said, "Play." I felt the intoxicating warmth of Axel's body around me as I strummed, Axel's fingers helping me press the frets. I felt electricity pulse through me, feeling his hand on mine, his legs around me, and his irresistible body heat.

I strummed the strings, the chord sounding really good. But… fuck, it was so hard to resist… his body. I couldn't stop myself.

I leaned into the irresistible heat, as I felt Axel's hard member behind me, hearing him moan softly.

"I can't seem to get comfortable," I said breathlessly, as I shifted my weight, rubbing into Axel's groin repeatedly. He moaned louder this time. Fuck, I love teasing Axel, but I wanted his hands on me so badly…

Axel whispered, slightly out of breath, "Do you want me to teach you something that has nothing to do with guitar, Roxas?" I could hear the need dripping in his voice, as I felt my dick throb.

I felt his hand leave the frets and rest on my inner thigh.

"Fuck yeah," I said throatily, my whole body anticipating his touch.

* * *

His hand trailed up, and as he grabbed my crotch, I felt a shock wave go through my body, as he started massaging my balls. I moaned loudly as he started rubbing the contents of my pants slowly and deliberately. My eyes glazed over, as I felt my eyes close, leaning into Axel's firm touch.

This feels so fucking gooooood…

I felt Axel start to unbutton my pants. It was hard to stop him, but I had to. I said in mocking innocence, "Wait a second Axel, this isn't fair. You still have your shirt on. Also, the guitar's in the way of our new lesson." Although I was pretending to sound innocent, my tone was seductive and low.

I heard Axel mumble under his breath as I bit back a laugh. My teasing was getting to him. I stood up and set the guitar down on the floor quickly as Axel took off his shirt, exposing his muscular chest. Right as he lifted his shirt over his head, I quickly went back onto the bed. I lunged and started kissing him passionately, pushing him farther onto the bed. My hand went straight for the big bulge in his jeans as I imitated his massaging and rubbing motions as we continued to make out. We were both moaning and panting, and he started rubbing me again.

He unbuttoned and unzipped my pants and I did the same for him, as my body felt a wave of excitement and arousal.

I removed my pants easily, now in nothing but my checkered boxer briefs and checkered socks. Because of how tight Axel's jeans were, however, he was having a hard time.

I leaned in to him, whispering seductively into his ear, "Want me to help?" as I bit and licked his ear, breathing hot air into his ear.

"Mmm," he moaned. I helped him out of his pants, letting my hands softly touch his legs. After he kicked off his pants, he was in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs and black socks. His briefs did little to hide the erection straining the fabric. Fuck he's big!

I felt my hand settle between his thighs, as I started rubbing Axel's dick up and down through the soft fabric. Axel moaned loudly, and I relished the sound of his moans and the feeling of his girth in my hand. Then he started rubbing my dick the same way, and it felt so unbelievably good. I found myself thrusting into his touch, as I started gently rolling his balls in my hand. I heard him let out a guttural moan, as he said, breathlessly, in between moaning, "You sure you've never done this before? You're fucking good."

I laughed, and said sensualy, "I'm just doing what I think of when I jerk off to you." I felt his dick throb in my hand, as I felt him pull down my underwear and start jerking me off.

It felt so much better than I ever imagined it would. "Fuck," I groaned. I reached over to reach inside his underwear, but he said, whispering in my ear, "I want to teach you something first, student." He smirked and winked at me, playing with my balls. He bit by neck sensually, as I felt my whole body tingle.

"You seem to have a hands on approach to teaching," I joked. He chuckled, still massaging my balls.

He said, deviously, "Hmm… not completely." And without warning, I felt Axel's lips wrap around my length, his hot tongue swirling around and I felt my dick seemingly melt as it was enveloped in the wet warmth of Axel's mouth.

I felt myself moan, my eyes rolling into the back of my head as I felt my toes curl up. This feels so good… and so… right…

As Axel removed his mouth from my cock, I felt myself whine. I felt so embarrassed, but I was in need of Axel's warmth. He laughed gently at my whining, and he started licking my sensitive tip slowly, as I felt more waves of pleasure wash over me. He kissed the tip softly, making me moan in need.

He ran his tongue down the tip of my member to the bottom underside of the shaft. I panted heavily, embarrassed by how much I was moaning but I was starting to not care. I just wanted more Axel.

I felt his tongue trail down to my right ball, and then felt Axel slurp it into his mouth.

"Fuck!" I moaned, feeling Axel's hot mouth engulf and suck on my ball. I was letting the pleasure take over, as I felt Axel's tongue trail to the other nut and he began working it.

I laid back and enjoyed the feeling. After a while Axel said, "Okay, I taught you. Now you try." He winked.

Fuck, i've never been this turned on before.

Too turned on to hesitate, I reached into Axel's briefs and started teasing his tip of his rock hard menber with my finger. He moaned, bucking his hips, trying to get me to jerk him off. I did, loving the feel of his meaty dick in my hand as I stroked his shaft.

I played with his balls, loving the gasps and moans coming from Axel, which only turned me on more.

Then, I got an idea. "Hey, I'm going to deviate from you lesson, uh, teacher. There's something I've want to do since the last lesson," I said, as I started licking and kissing a trail down Axel's chest, down to his chiseled abs, and finally to his sensitive tip. I felt Axel squirm under the touch of my mouth. Then I took his throbbing need into my mouth and started sucking, moving my tongue around his shaft and tip. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I felt Axel thrust in my mouth and moan loudly, so I must be doing okay.

I savored his taste on my tongue, as I moved to his balls, slurping them gently. He was laying on the bed, relaxed, seeming to thoroughly enjoy my touch… and that made me so...happy.

As I stopped sucking, Axel said sensually, "You're pretty good for never doing this. And you're so fucking hot." He winked.

"I think you're, uh, fucking hot too..." I said, trailing off at the end as I felt Axel's hand around my shaft, as he started pumping.

I started pumping him too, as we both started panting loudly and moaning as we were approaching climax. He started playing with my balls while pumping me, which felt incredible so I did the same to him. Soon, I felt my body give in to pleasure as my body spasmed, orgasming in Axel's warm hand, as I moaned loudly, "Axel!" At the same exact time, I felt Axel buck into my hand moaning, "Roxas!" as he climaxed.

That was the best orgasm I have ever had.

* * *

We laid on the bed for a while, trying to catch our breath and recover from the intense pleasure.

Axel said, "We should have these new lessons more often." I had my eyes closed, but I could tell from his voice that he was smirking, and also incredibly happy.

I laughed, and then said, panting, "Yeah, that was...so great." I felt Axel get up as I sat up.

"I'm gonna get something so we can clean up," he said, as I looked at his naked body openly. I could get used to this…

He was walking in a different room, as I sat there, feeling intense happiness wash over me, and disbelief that it all happened.

I didn't have it in me to be cynical, which was a first. Axel came back with a couple wet washrags, interrupting my thoughts.

We washed off using the rags and cuddled into each other's naked body. This felt so nice…

Axel said, "Sorry, normally would've offered a shower, but we don't have much time. Gotta get you back home soon. Guitar lessons ended a while ago." I looked at the clock on his wall. Shit, he was right! My parents are going to kill me!

"Well," I said slyly, "I guess we'll uh, just have to shower next time won't we."

Axel smiled at me softly, and said, "You want there to be a next time?" He looked so incredibly happy, and I couldn't help but feel just as happy.

"Yeah," I said softly, and then said a bit louder, "but on different days than guitar lessons! Also, I hope I get a refund for today, you didn't teach me anything, uh, guitar related!" Also, the thought of my mom paying Axel for our "alternative lesson" was really gross...

Axel laughed, and said, "Yeah… Next time I can teach you an easier version of that chord."

"Okay, cool."

* * *

We got our clothes back on and Axel drove me home. We talked in the car, and even though we just did, uh, that… it wasn't awkward at all. It felt natural… Doing that with Axel, even though I didn't know what I was doing also felt natural.

And as he said goodnight to me in front of my door and kissed me, everything… actually felt pretty great. I smiled shyly, said good night, and then kissed him."

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something in my window, but I was probably imagining it.

Besides, right now I was just too happy to care.

I opened my front door and looked back at at Axel's car, smiling. Then I walked inside.

* * *

So, uh, yeah! This is my first time ever writing something that steamy, so I hope it wasn't too awkward! Scenes like that take a lot of work to make them work, something I didn't realize until I started writing. And this chapter was longer than all of my other chapters, but it was worth every minute! I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you guys next chapter! Thanks for reading!

-Dant


	10. Chapter 10: Drumming

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! I have like no time to do anything right now! Here's the next chapter though! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

It was the next day, and I still couldn't believe what happened yesterday. It felt…. So amazing. Fuck, I'm hard again...

Axel and the rest of the band usually had practice on Saturdays. I guess they've been working toward a battle of the bands competition that's coming up at the end of the school year.

They're pretty good, so I'm sure they'll do great. I know they really want the cash prize.

This Saturday was no different. What was different was that Axel texted me in the morning, saying, "Hey, wanna hang at my place a couple hours before practice?"

Still trying to recover from last night's, uh… alternative lesson, it took everything to not say, "Fuck yeah!"

I replied, "Sure, I guess," instead, and then went to ask my mom for a ride to Axel's.

* * *

She agreed, and then drove me to his house. I sat in the silence. My mom and I aren't close or anything, but it was still a bit quieter than normal. Whatever, I was probably imagining things. I think she's mad at me because I forgot to do dishes last night.

I thanked her for driving me, and then knocked at Axel's door.

Axel's mom came to the door, smiling at me. She said cheerfully, " Hey Roxas, how are you?"

"Good. And you?"

"Good! Axel's in his room, honey. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." As she said this, there was a hint of a knowing smile.

Fuck! She knows he likes me… Seriously, does she know everything? She probably knows that I like Axel… God, this is awkward… "Uh… thanks," I said as I made my way to Axel's room, not looking her in the eye… Man I'm awkward.

I knocked on Axel's door.

I heard from the other side of the door, "Hey, come in man."

I opened the door and saw him relaxing on his bed, smiling. He gestured with his head for me to join him.

I took off my shoes and gladly obliged, laying next to him. I curled into his warmth as we cuddled for a while, not speaking. I felt like I just wanted to enjoy the moment together. After a while of comfortable silence Axel said in a low voice, "You smell good."

I felt my body tingle at his words. I had put on some cologne before coming, something I never did… but I wanted to impress Axel or whatever… It made me so happy that he noticed, and I felt myself smile.

"You smell good too," I said. He really did. He smelled like pine trees and musk. It was such a comforting smell, and I felt myself nuzzling in to him so I could breathe him in.

"Thanks. I uh… got some new cologne the other day and wanted to try it out." I could hear a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

I smiled, realizing that he wanted to impress me. That was… sweet. I drew closer to him, feeling completely at peace for once. It was so nice, and felt… so right.

After a bit, I asked, "So why did you ask me to come over early?"

He paused for a moment, and then chuckled lightly, saying playfully, "I just like spending time with you for some reason. Don't ask me why."

I smiled, and said, "Yeah, I guess hanging out with you isn't the WORST thing ever."

There was a pause, and then we both laughed.

We started talking about a video game we both played, some music he was working on, and about how annoying my sister is.

Our conversation was interrupted by a loud metal guitar riff. Axel's text tone. Axel sat up and reached over me for his phone on his bedside table.

"What is it? Everything okay?" I asked.

He looked at his phone and let out a sigh. Then he said, disappointingly, "Clyde's feeling sick, so he's not coming to practice. Guess we're gonna have to cancel."

I felt sad, too. I loved listening to them practice. "That sucks… sorry man."

"Yeah… I better start telling everyone..." He went back to his phone.

Then I thought for a second. Wait…

"Hey! I've listened to you guys play for a while now. And I drum okay, I guess. If you want, I can...fill in."

I barely finished my sentence before I felt Axel's lips on mine, kissing me hard. I kissed him back as we looked into each other's eyes. I saw so much happiness in Axel's eyes.

"That would be great! I can't to hear you play! I wanna see if you're as good as the legends say." He said this so excitedly.

I laughed, and said, "And what legends would those be?"

"The legends passed down by the town storyteller, Zexion."

I laughed, feeling Axel sit up. I sat up, too

"Practice starting?" I asked. He got up.

"Yeah, in a few minutes. Surprised that they're not here yet, actually," he said. I got up too, putting my shoes on.

He led the way to his garage. I felt nervous. This was the first time they'd hear me play. Well besides Zexion. Better make it count...

* * *

A couple minutes passed before I heard the door to the garage open. Demyx and Zexion entered.

Zexion said, "Hey."

Then Demyx said cheerfully, "Hey guys, how are you? I'm good, thanks! So Where's Clyde, is he late again?"

Axel said, "I guess Clyde's not feeling hot, so he's not coming."

I saw Demyx's face drop over dramatically, as I bit back a laugh. Oh, Demyx. Demyx then said, overly concerned, "I hope he's alright! I know some serious stuff is going around man! It could be serious! I hope he'll be alright… Is he in the hospital? We should go visit him. Before his last hours!"

Zexion said, evenly and calmly, "Demyx, I'm sure that he's fine. It doesn't seem like he's in the hospital. Is he, Axel?"

Axel shook his head.

I heard a loud sigh of relief from Demyx, and Zexion continued, "He'll be fine, it's probably a cold. But are we still practicing? We don't have a drummer."

Axel feigned innocence, looking confused, and said, "What are you talking about, Zexy? We got one right here!" He gestured to me.

I saw Zexion's face brighten up, a light smile on his face.

Meanwhile Demyx lunged at me, putting his arm around my shoulder, saying excitedly, "Yeah, dude! Can't wait to play together! This'll be so great!" He was beaming.

I felt myself smile, and said, "I figured I should try. I've been to your practices. I'll do my best."

Axel said to me in a soft tone, "I know you'll do great. I believe in you."

I felt Demyx's arm leave my shoulder, as I felt one of Axel's arms wrap around the back of my waist. It was… very comforting.

I felt a little less nervous now, as I felt my body tingle with Axel's comforting warmth. I found myself saying, "So which song are we starting with?"

Demyx said loudly, "That's the spirit, man!"

Axel said, "Let's warm up, guys and then do "Man Against the Machine" first."

We all nodded, and I headed to the drum set, while Demyx and Axel got out their guitars and Zexion went to the piano. It was so weird, actually being on the other side. I was used to sitting in a chair, watching. But now, I was playing.

We all warmed up, as I practiced the beginning of "Man Against the Machine". It starts with the drums.

Then we were ready to start. I felt Axel give me a reassuring glance. I felt ready.

Finally, we started playing the song. I started it off, and throughout the song I changed it so it would flow a bit better. I added some cymbal accents during the verses and some rim shots during the chorus.

I kinda did my own thing, but I think it fit really well. Made it more dynamic.

We of course played "My Dark Little Memories" as well as a newer song, "I Hate Everything About You".

I added my own touches and rhythms and kinda changed it up a bit. But it seemed like the members liked it. They were grooving to the songs. And honestly I had a lot of fun. I loved playing with these guys. I was grooving right with them.

Only thing that sucks about playing is that I can't pay attention to how free Axel looks while playing… but I was able to steal glances… Fuck, it feels like Axel is occupying all my thoughts lately…

When we finished practice, I felt excitement in the room. Demyx said exuberantly while jumping, "Man! You're so good! I'd almost say you're better than Clyde! Not that Clyde's bad! But man!"

Zexion looked at me, and said, smiling softly, "Yeah. I have to admit I'm impressed. I think you improved the drum parts a bit. It also fits what we wrote better."

Axel said, proudly, "Yeah, you did great! I guess the legends are true. Thanks man for filling in. It was… uh, great rocking with you." There was a faint blush on Axel's cheeks.

"Yeah, it was great. Been a while since I've gotten to really play. It was a lot of fun guys!" I said, a lot more excitedly than I meant to, also blushing lightly. But I really did love playing with everyone. And we sounded good together.

Zexion said cooly, "Plus it's nice to get through an entire practice without Clyde acting like a dick."

Everyone laughed.

* * *

We hung out for about an hour after practice and then we all went home.

Axel drove me home and kissed me goodnight. Man, it felt good. The way he looks into my eyes… Everything just feels so right.

I finished the day by watching some videos online and practicing the guitar a bit.

Overall... a pretty great day.

* * *

Thanks for reading the chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! Also I wrote it in a slightly different style than normal, so let me know what you think of it! Thanks so much guys and have a good day!

-Dant


	11. Chapter 11: Realization

Hey guys! Happy AkuRoku Day! Have a new chapter! Please enjoy!

* * *

It's been about a week and a half since I practiced with the band.

I've been going to their practices since then, but I gotta say… I miss playing with them. The electricity of Demyx's guitar, Axel's bass and Zexion's piano coming together harmoniously with the rhythm of my playing… fuck, I wish I was part of the band.

Clyde is back, feeling better. Kinda wish he wasnt. His playing's good… but it doesn't mesh as well as when I play. Also, he continues to throw a tantrum every fucking practice.

But I'm not part of the band and he is, so what can I do.

Anyway, it's Tuesday.

* * *

The day started with everyone meeting up at the table, like always. I walked up to the table, smiling softly.

I overheard Zexion talking to Demyx about how Demyx really needs to clean his room.

Zexion said, "Do you want to see more than half the floor?" There was a hint of a smile on his face… and something else I couldn't place.

Demyx countered loudly, "It's mostly clothes! And hey, not everybody keeps their room as clean as a furniture show room! At least I don't clean my window shades fucking one by one!" Again, there was a playful smile on his face, as he flailed his arms.

"Some of us like to walk in their room," Zexion said, with a smirk.

"Whatever, man!" Demyx said, again almost playfully. Wait… were they…

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Axel walk up to the table. Fuck he's hot.

"Hey, what's up?" Axel said.

I felt myself blush slightly. I shook myself out of it, and replied casually, "Not much, man, buried a couple bodies last night."

Axel smirked, and played along, saying with fake annoyance, "Dude! You KNOW I love burying bodies, why didn't you invite me over?"

Trying not to laugh, I said evenly, "Sorry man, I'll text you next time."

Axel said, very seriously, "Alright, you better."

There was a pause…. And then we both laughed loudly. Then we talked about what we were actually up to. Apparently Axel's mom got the day off, so they were gonna go try this new Thai place for dinner.

He said I could come… but unfortunately I was roped in to watching Namine's dance recital tonight. When I tried to get out of it, my mom kept nagging me, saying that I need to be a "supportive brother" or whatever.

What a pain.

It would've been pretty cool, spending time with Axel and his mom, but instead I have to watch a bunch of twelve year olds stumble around clumsily.

I told him about the recital, and that I couldn't go. He seemed genuinely bummed out, but said that he understood.

The bell rang, and we all parted ways, students shuffling through the halls.

* * *

During band, we finally made a full run-through of my favorite song. It was about a castle in Medieval China being sieged. It actually came together pretty well. Plus I got to play the gong several times, which was pretty great.

After band, biology rolled around. I always looked forward to it because, well… Axel.

Class started, and as always we tuned Mr. Smith out the minute he started talking and passed notes instead.

Something about the ways moths camouflage. Who cares.

We passed notes like normal and had a good conversation.

Out of curiosity, I wrote, "So is there something between Zexion and Demyx?"

I looked at Axel as he read it, and he snickered softly.

I watched him write back.

I read, "Yeah, man. They haven't said anything, but it's pretty obvious."

"Yeah, don't know why they try to hide it."

After reading it, I looked at Axel. He looked at me with a weird expression on his face.

Are we also… hiding something?

No, we're not together or anything… Besides, they both already know we like each other.

Anyway, after that Axel and I did something we uh, have been doing lately.

Axel wrote, "I can't wait for tomorrow's lesson. If you want, I can teach you something completely new."

I had a feeling where this was going, but I asked, "And what would that be?"

He wrote back, "I can teach you how to thrust into me hard and fast. Don't worry though, we can practice all night if you want."

I read this as I felt the blood pool to my crotch. I made the mistake of looking into his seductive eyes. I immediately got hard.

Then the bell rang. Fuck! He got me!

I screamed at him, "I'll get you back!"

He chucked, and with a devious smirk said, "Sure you will. Now we need to get to lunch. Gotta make sure you get in line as soon as possible."

I rolled my eyes, and said, "How noble of you."

We looked at each other and laughed.

I stood up, with a notable problem in my pants.

Axel looked at my, uh, problem and said in a low voice, "It's alright, I'll help you with that tomorrow." I felt my dick throb.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm just getting you back for what you did yesterday."

We laughed again.

See Axel and I, the last week or so, have been purposely making eachother hard during class or at lunch to embarrass eachother. I know it's kinda stupid… but it's fun in a weird way.

We haven't been able to do anything, uh sexual since the last lesson we had, so we're both feeling it.

I got looks in the hallway from some people that noticed the bulge in my pants, as Axel and I looked at eachother and laughed hysterically.

* * *

We ate lunch and talked as normal.

Later in the day, I went to algebra. Before class started I took my seat next to Zexion. He nodded at me.

Then I said softly, "So, is there anything between you and Demyx?"

There was a look of shock, and Zexion blushed furiously.

I held back my laughter. It was weird seeing him show so much emotion.

He looked away, and I said, mirroring his own words before, "I think you guys would make a good couple, man. Demyx is a good guy."

Zexion smiled softly, and nodded.

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Talked to Axel a bit after school before the bus came. Then I took the bus home, did some homework, and went to the recital.

Gotta say, I was actually impressed with the recital. Namine did really well, and the choreography was interesting. I was surprised. After I got home though I went to bed.

* * *

The next day was pretty boring… until biology.

Axel and I tuned the teacher out, until Mr. Smith said right before the bell, "And remember everyone, the moth project is due on Monday, so make sure you remember both research essays, both diagrams, and the collage. Remember, this project is worth a large percentage of your grade, so make sure to put the finishing touches on it.

Yeah, I'll make sure to put the finishing touches on it… once I even start. Axel looked at me, as we shared a look of horror.

Fuck.

* * *

Plot twist! Well kinda, I've been building it up, but still! What are Axel going to do? Will they complete this crazy project in time! Find out next time! See you then!

-Dant


	12. Chapter 12: Moths

Hey guys…. I'm so sorry it's been over a month since I uploaded a chapter… I feel so bad! I told you I would get better… So I seriously apologize! I hope that this chapter makes up for it, though! Please enjoy!

* * *

After realizing that our stupid project was due in half a week, Axel and I canceled practice.

Thankfully after looking at the guidelines, it said we could work in pairs as long as we wrote down who did what. At least working together would help. Still though, I was looking forward to our practice… and our "alternative lesson" afterwards...

This fucking sucks.

Also, because Axel is going to be busy all day Sunday because of his cousin's wedding, we only have until the end of Saturday to get everything done, and today was Wednesday.

But hey, at least doing this project gave us an excuse to hang out more.

Not that we needed one.

Instead of doing our lesson after school, we decided to do some research.

The school day went by and then we met at the bench.

I came up to Axel, and he grinned at me, while saying in a mocking tone,"Hey, you ready to hit the books?"

I said, casually, "Only if we can do it literally."

We both laughed.

Axel smirked, and then said, "Only if the book pisses you off."

"The fact we have to read books about moths pisses me off enough already," I said, sneering slightly.

He laughed, looking at each other, and we made our way to Axel's.

* * *

When we got to his house and entered his room, we sat down on his bed and looked at the guidelines of the project again.

There were 2 fucking essays. The first one had to do with the classification of animals. We had to "describe and explain the terms kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Then, specify those classifications for a moth of your choosing. Please make your essay three pages or longer."

A fucking three page requirement about a fucking moth.

The second paper was about taking that same moth and elaborating on it. In 4 pages or more, we had to say where it's from, diet, go through the life cycle, describe the anatomy, where it gets its name, describe its appearance, defense mechanisms, explain the importance of moths, and give any other "interesting facts".

What's fucking interesting about a moth?

We also had to make two diagrams that we're supposed to reference in our papers.

One was a diagram of a moth, preferably the moth of our choice, with the anatomy labeled. We had to label it ourselves.

The second diagram had to show the life cycle of a moth, preferably the moth of our choice. We had to label the stages, and show the order.

Nothing's more fun than looking up pictures of moth larvae…

And finally there was the collage, where we take pictures of different types of moths and put it on one paper, to, "demonstrate the diversity of moths."

We haven't even started and I'm already over this project.

Since we were working together, the guidelines said that each person should do one paper, one diagram, and work together on the collage.

After reading over the guidelines, we decided that Axel was going to work on the paper about the moth itself and I was going to do the paper about the classifications of moths, since I had just a bit more patience with the scientific classifications and Axel was good at padding the length of papers.

We'd worry about the diagrams and collage later.

Because we had to cite at least 2 book sources and 2 online sources for each paper, we had to go to my favorite place ever… the library.

Been a while since I'd been in one. Namine was always the reader in the family. She's always asking for new books. I preferred drumming… well and I guess guitar playing now… Axel might be playing a part in that, though.

* * *

Anyway, Axel drove us toward the library. We stopped at my house first since it was on the way and I needed my laptop.

I ran into my house really quick while Axel waited in the car.

On my way upstairs to my room, my mom looked at me, with a confused look on her face.

"Shouldn't you be at your guitar lesson?" she said, in an almost irritated voice.

"We have a project in school. Axel and I are working on it together. Won't be having lessons this week."

"Okay, as long as I don't have to pay for them this week."

"Yeah, of course," I said. Hmm, my mom's more short with me than normal. Been like that for a couple weeks now.

Wonder what I did now.

Whatever. I went upstairs, got my laptop and charger, and ran back out the door to Axel's car.

"Okay, let's go," I said, as I opened the car door.

Axel laughed and said, grinning, "Yeah, a whole exciting world of moths awaits!"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but laugh.

Our eyes connected for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. We both smiled, and I felt my heart stir again.

Our gazes lingered a bit longer before we finally took off to the library.

* * *

We made it to the library, and by looking on the shelves some really weird things must be popular.

There was a pretty big selection of Amish romance. Covers of women in white bonnets with concerned faces lined above the shelves.

Next to those lovely pieces of literature was a romance novel with a muscular shirtless guy on the moon. No suit, just a helmet and pants. Even though the book looked really dumb, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't checking out the guy on the cover.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one paying attention to the book.

I felt Axel draw close to me as I felt his warmth near me, as he bent down slightly to whisper in my ear. I felt my body tingle.

He whispered seductively, "What's it gonna take to get you to remove your space suit?"

My whole body felt hot.

I tried to keep calm though, and whispered back, "Just spill some lemonade on me."

We both laughed very loudly, as I felt Axel put his arm around my shoulder.

We were shushed by the rest of the library, as Axel and I looked at each other again and laughed softer.

We finally made our way to the entomology section.

Can't believe this exists, but hey it makes our project easier so that's all I care about.

We still hadn't picked a moth yet, so after finding a section with moths and butterflies I finally picked a ridiculously thick book titled _1,001_ _Butterflies and Moths_ and I turned the pages and looked at the different pictures.

Finally, I saw one that looked… actually pretty fucking cool.

It had black brown, yellow and white on its body and wings. But what was awesome was that there, on its head, was a mark that looked like a skull.

Axel had been looking over my shoulder at the book while I was turning pages. When I looked back at him, he grinned and nodded. We had found our moth.

Huh, says it's called a death's head hawk moth. Even its name is bad ass. The Latin name for this specific one, a _cherontia atropos,_ is a bit less bad ass though.

Anyway we found another book that had the death's head hawk moth in it, a couple of books about classification of animals, and a book about moth anatomy and life cycles for the diagrams.

Finally we left the stupid library.

We made it to Axel's house again and we started looking online and researching about moths. What a way to spend a night with a hot guy.

That night, we mainly just researched for the couple hours we had left before I had to go. Of course I had a ton of homework in the rest of my classes too… Fucking figures.

I went home and did my homework.

I went to bed and then woke up the next day.

* * *

Classes went by pretty slow. Axel, Demyx, Zexion, and I fucked around like normal.

Seems like Demyx and Zexion are becoming more comfortable with being public about their affection. I saw Demyx kiss Zexion on the cheek. Zexion freaked out was was fucking hilarious to watch.

After school, I went to Axel's house where we researched a bit more. We were both on our laptops on Axel's bed.

Axel shared something actually pretty cool about the moth. Yeah, I'm fucking surprised too. Apparently it used to be seen as a bad omen when death's head hawk moths got into someone's house. They thought that it meant that death was coming to someone in the house. Fucking cool moth.

Wait, am I actually learning something interesting? I should stop.

Anyway, we did more boring research, until it was time for me to go home. I was so tired, but I had more homework to do for English and Algebra…

He drove me home, and we kissed goodnight. We both smiled at each other and then he left. Before I entered through the door, I looked back at him as he made his way back to the car.

He noticed and smiled. I smiled back, as I filled with happiness… Fuck, I really like him…

I laughed to myself softly and finally turned back around and went through the door.

As I made my way up the stairs, my mom came in from the other room, looking as angry as she has been lately.

She said shortly, "I see that you're back."

Her voice took me out of the good mood that Axel had put me in.

"Yeah," I said.

"Glad you're home," she said, again shortly. She walked away.

What's her fucking problem? Whatever, I have more homework to finish and it's already pretty late.

I started my homework. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing in Algebra, so I had to reteach myself. Took forever. And the chapters I had to read for English also took a long time, so I ended up going to bed a couple hours later than normal, and couldn't fall asleep.

Just what I need. Great.

* * *

Thanks for reading, guys! After leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger and feeling bad that I left you in suspense for a month… I decided I'd spare you this week from any cliffhangers… but I can't promise there aren't any coming next chapter! Anyways I'll hopefully see you next chapter, which will hopefully be uploaded in less than a month's time! Bye guys!


	13. Chapter 13: Sleep Deprived

Hey guys! I actually kept my promise! It's been less than a month since I last uploaded! Whoot! Anyways, I hope you enjoy guys!

* * *

I woke up to the rude, annoying sound of my alarm clock. I grunted and reached a hand over to shut it off.

When I accidentally pushed the clock off my bedside table, I cursed under my breath and stretched. I reached down to turn off the god damn alarm.

Fuck, I'm tired.

It was Friday now, meaning that Axel and I only had today and tomorrow to finish this fucking moth project… and we haven't even started writing yet.

I laid in bed for as long as I could without being late and then reluctantly got ready and headed for the bus.

* * *

The whole day at school fucking dragged. The whole time I was trying not to fall asleep.

During biology I apologized to Axel and then put my head down.

You would think I would've learned my lesson that I should pay attention in bio… but I was too tired to care.

I swear I was out in like 5 minutes.

After class Axel said that I snored the whole time but he forgives me because I looked so cute.

I called him a fucking creep.

He pretended to be incredibly concerned that I wasn't taking my studies seriously enough.

I told him to fuck off.

* * *

Not much happened during school, just trying not to fall asleep again. God, it feels like I didn't sleep at all last night.

I met Axel at our bench, and then we walked to his house.

My eyes felt like they were burning from the sunlight, but soon we were in the shelter of his house.

* * *

I had brought my laptop with me, and after getting a glass on lemonade from the fridge, we set up in Axel's room.

I told Axel, "It fucking sucks that we're missing lessons again."

Axel said, "Yeah, your playing's coming along." I felt myself blush.

Then he drew in closer and said in a low flirty voice, "You also do well during our other lessons."

I smacked him on the shoulder as I felt the blood pool in my groin.

"Whatever," I said, looking away.

We would usually, uh, let off some steam after our lessons… but obviously we can't do that because of the stupid project.

Cock blocked by fucking moths.

But yeah, safe to say that at this point just being next to Axel is enough to rile me up.

I'm so fucking horny right now it's not even funny.

But instead of sucking Axel's dick like I wanted too… I just have to focus on the fact that moths are part of the Lepidoptera order and try not to focus on how tired and turned on I am.

I finally started typing the paper and finished getting all the information together. Making progress at least.

It helped that I borrowed notes from a kid in my Biology class that actually seems to pay attention.

Think his name was Sora.

Anyway, after a few hours Axel and I had enough with writing our essays, so we took a break.

Apparently Axel learned that the death's head hawk moth makes a god awful noise… so we had to check it out.

We looked it up online… and yeah, it's pretty fucking annoying. Sounds like a loud squeaking. Guess that was one of the reasons why people feared it.

To me it's more annoying than scary.

After watching the video, Axel and I shared a look and then I asked, "So, which song is gonna sample this moth's screeching?"

I could tell Axel was trying not to laugh, as he said, "Huh, I think we should get Zexy to pitch the moth's noises so he can play those noises instead of the piano. We'll stand out during the battle of the bands, and win for sure."

After a moment of silence, we laughed really hard.

We talked a bit about how Demyx and Zexy were dating.

"Yeah," Axel said, "it was pretty obvious for a while now, but I never thought that Zexy would be okay with being open in public."

"Yeah, guess Demyx is rubbing off on him."

"More like rubbing him off," he said, winking.

"Dude, gross!" I said, laughing.

He was laughing too, and I felt myself relax on the bed.

Like he knew what I was thinking, Axel laid on the bed.

I curled into his chest and felt a gentle hand stroke my hair.

God, this feels nice… He's so fucking warm…

I felt myself learn in to his caressing and closed my eyes… and gave into the warmth of his body.

* * *

I woke with a start, the room a lot darker than it was before.

I heard the clacking of keys next to me. Axel was laying right next to me, working on the paper.

I felt a warm blanket around me.

I said hoarsely, sleep still staining my voice, "Hey, what time is it?"

I felt Axel jump, and I tried not to laugh. Guess I scared him. Kinda cute actually.

"Hey, you've been out for a couple hours. It's 9:30 now. I'm thinking of calling you sleeping beauty instead of Roxas from now on, with how cute you look when you sleep."

I felt myself blush. "And I'm thinking of filing a restrain order on your ass for watching me sleep twice in the same god damn day." I said, laughing while saying it.

Axel was sitting up so I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was smiling while he said, "You sound convincing." He chuckled.

"Seriously though, I need to get home. My mom's gonna kill me if I'm not home by 10." She usually grounded me if I wasn't home on time. She did it because I "made her worry" or whatever.

"How much do you have written so far?" Axel asked. "I want to make sure you'll be able to finish the paper in time."

"Like about half way. Just finished page two."

"Well… do you think it would be better to work a little longer here and then uh..." Axel paused for a moment, seeming oddly nervous.

"Everything okay?" I asked, curiously.

"Yeah, just thinking it might be better if you spent the night. I mean, if you want..."

He was so nervous… and again, that was pretty cute.

He continued saying, "You've been trying not to pass out all day. I want you to take care of yourself man. How about you rest here and we can finish it tomorrow. The diagrams and collage won't take long."

"Yeah, but what about band practice tomorrow?"

"I think you need to sleep. We can take the day tomorrow to finish. We'll be alright time wise, right? That sound good?"

I was still incredibly groggy and tired… I wanted more sleep… next to Axel…

I thought about it for a moment before saying, "Okay, I'll tell my mom I'm staying over."

"Sweet!" Axel said, clearly excited. I smiled at how excited he was. I was pretty excited myself.

I sat up and got my phone out of my pocket.

Axel had left the light off so I could sleep, so I strained my eyes to look at my phone.

I messaged my mom, "Hey, project's taking a while. Gonna spend the night at Axel's."

Axel said, "I'll let everyone know that practice is canceled. I'm fucking done with moths today."

"Yeah, seriously."

"Hey, wanna watch a movie or something? I'll make sure there are no moths," he said. From the light of his laptop, I could see him smirking. God, his face is beautiful.

"Yeah, I guess…" I said softly. Not that I'm gonna watch any of it.

"Okay, try to get some sleep." he said, smiling.

I murmured in response.

Then he asked, "I know you said you liked action movies. Critical Rebound sound good?"

"Yeah, I guess that's good," I mumbled, closing my eyes again.

I heard him set his laptop on the nightstand and play the movie.

I took off my pants and socks so I could get more comfortable. I turned over onto my side and then felt Axel's strong arms wind around my chest. I felt Axel's firm chest rest on my back. I melted into the warmth.

God this feels good.

I'd seen this movie at least six times, so I recognized the explosion used in the beginning by the bank robbers to get into the vault.

That was the last thing I heard before drifting off again.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! I had fun writing this chapter! I recently got a review with some really good advice that helped me improve my writing! This is a reminder that I seriously appreciate any constructive criticism, as I'm pretty new to writing! Thank you so much!

Also, one of my readers pointed out the connection from my story to the moth meme going around. I discovered the meme, and now it's my new favorite thing! Check it out if you haven't already! Hahahaha!

I gotta say though...I wrote my story hinting at a moth project, and then a huge meme about moths started and spread like wildfire months later. Coincidence?

Probably.

Anyways! After that long outro, I hope the day treats you guys well and hope to see you next chapter!

Bye!

-Dant


	14. Chapter 14: Good Morning

Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Before fully waking up, I felt warmth around me. God I felt so comfortable.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Axel fully asleep.

He's so fucking beautiful.

Waking up next to him like this… I was filled with so much happiness… I don't understand, it's not like we did anything sexual last night or anything… I was just happy to be next to him, I guess.

I found myself staring at his face while smiling warmly like a fucking weirdo… I called Axel a creep yesterday for watching me sleep… and I guess I'm the creep now.

I sat up and looked at Axel a little longer, spacing out.

I felt a warm hand on my leg, and was pulled out of my thoughts.

I jumped, as I heard a small laugh come from Axel next to me.

He was smiling up at me. I could see… happiness in his eyes. So much fucking happiness. I couldn't help but smile back, overwhelmed by happiness. I was something I'd never felt.

Axel said groggily, "Morning, beautiful. You should come here more often."

I felt myself blush, as Axel threw the covers off of himself.

As Axel got comfortable on the bed, I took the sight of Axel in.

He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that showed his muscular arms, and he was in a pair of black briefs that did little to hide the large morning wood in them. Fuck, he's hot!

Looking at Axel's situation gave me an idea.

* * *

I tried not to laugh while I leaned in to Axel's ear and said, in a seductive whisper,"I appreciate you letting me stay the night. I want to repay your hospitality. Please, if there's anything I can help with, please let me know."

As I said the last few words, I started slowly massaging the bulge in Axel's briefs.

I heard Axel elicit a low moan, as I felt Axel's dick throb through the thin fabric. This caused my dick to throb as well.

Axel said in a mockingly sweet voice while trying to hide his arousal, "Please, there's no need! You're my guest, I should be the one helping you!"

I felt Axel's warm hand start to rub my hardening cock through my briefs, causing me to moan softly.

We kept massaging the contents of each other's briefs for a while before Axel said, with a devious smirk, "Here, let me lend you another hand," and he pulled my underwear down. Then he started jacking me off with one hand while playing with my balls with the other.

Fuck, it feels so good when he does that.

I started pumping his dick and playing with his balls too, getting more and more turned on by the noises Axel was making.

God, I'm getting close.

* * *

Just as soon as I thought that, I head a loud metal song come from Axel's phone on the nightstand. Axel craned his neck to read the phone.

"Clyde's calling, just ignore it," Axel said, panting.

I tried to ignore it and continued working Axel's dick.

As soon as the phone stopped ringing however, the phone rang again.

We both ignored it again, feeling that there were better, more pressing things to focus on at the moment.

When the phone rang yet again however, Axel sprung up from the bed angrily and grabbed his phone.

He said, practically yelling, "This better be fucking important Clyde, I was in the middle of something."

Because of how heated the following conversation was, I could unfortunately hear the whole thing.

* * *

"Yeah, I'm calling to tell you how pissed off I am that I'm apparently the only one that cares about the band. You've canceled two fucking practices this week. With your shoddy playing, we need as much practice as we can get before the battle of the bands if we want to stand a chance."

"Fuck you, Clyde," Axel said angrily.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you." I heard a cruel laugh through the phone, before Clyde continued," I know the reason you bailed is so you can fuck Roxas. You were probably fucking him when I called. At least I know where my priorities should be."

"I fucking told you, we're working on a project. I'm sorry I've had to cancel, but I need to finish the project to pass the class." I could tell Axel was trying to stay calm, but was about to lose it.

"Whatever you say. Just try to be gentle with him, he's delicate and frail. Don't want to break him in half." I heard the disdain in his voice."

"Shut the FUCK UP AND don't you DARE TALK ABOUT ROXAS EVER AGAIN!" Axel yelled loudly. He panted from how furious he was. I saw pure anger in his bright green eyes. I had never seen Axel that angry. It scared me a bit.

Clyde hung up.

I went in to cuddle against him, trying to calm him down.

I felt him shake as I held him.

I started rubbing Axel's shoulders, tracing designs gently with my hands. After a while, Axel said softly, "Fuck Clyde." His voice was still full of anger.

"Apparently according to him, you'd like that," I said, with a hint of humor in my voice.

He let out a small laugh, and said, "Alright… well now that that happened… We should get to work… Wanna make sure we get our project done."

I nodded. I felt disappointment that we didn't get to finish, but for once I really didn't feel aroused anymore.

Fucking Clyde.

* * *

Trying to forget what just happened, we both got on our laptops and got back to it. We made more progress on the papers.

After a few hours, both of us finally fucking finished them.

Unfortunately, we still had more to do. I started working on the diagram of the life stages of our moth while Axel worked on the anatomy diagram.

I pulled up some editing software and starting making a cycle chart.

While researching for the diagram, I was interested to learn that death's head hawkmoth caterpillars have a cool thorny tail looking thing. I was surprised yet again that I was actually interested in something in this stupid project.

After finishing the diagram, I started looking up pictures of moths for the collage. I found a picture of a fucking massive Atlas Moth, and a green Luna Moth.

Axel had finished his diagram a bit before me so he already had some pictures for the collage.

Axel and I put all the pictures we found together and made the collage. And with that, we were finally fucking done with this stupid project.

I sent Axel everything I worked on, and we decided he'd print everything out because my printer at home wasn't working.

I felt so fucking relieved that we were done. Axel and I embraced in celebration.

Through the relief, I felt a wave of exhaustion hit me. I was so fucking tired.

Axel could tell that I was tired and so he said that I should go home and get some rest.

I said I could sleep over again, but he laughed, smirked, and said, "We both know if you stay here, neither of us will want to sleep." Then he said softer, almost delicately, "You should get some rest, man. I'll take you home, okay?"

The amount of care in his tired green eyes caught me off guard. All I could do was nod gently.

He smiled genuinely, and I felt my heart melt.

I smiled back, as we shared a look. I felt another wave of pure happiness… maybe I'm just glad that we're fucking done with the project.

The gaze seemed to linger for a moment, until Axel said deviously, "Ya know, I'm so inspired by this project that I think we should change our band's name. The "Death's Head Hawkmoth Collective" has a nice ring to it."

I laughed and punched him in the arm, rolling my eyes.

Yeah, I'm sure it's just that I'm happy that we finished in time.

"I think the name of the band's just fine," I said, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, well it's always and option," Axel said, with a smirk. I laughed again.

* * *

I gathered all my stuff and then he took me home. He walked me to the door like he always did.

He said, "Hey, you did great today. Couldn't have finished the assignment without you. Get some rest now." Just like before there was so much care in his eyes.

Words weren't coming to me.

"Um, uh, you too man… Glad we're fucking done. You seem tired. Get some rest too."

We kissed each other goodnight like we always did, but it felt different from usual somehow.

It was like we were both trying to show how much we cared through the kiss or whatever. I don't know...

I probably imagined that…

We said goodnight and I felt sad to see him leave. I felt empty or something. Again, I don't know. I felt weird.

Honestly, I don't know how I felt exactly.

I waved back to him happily and then went into the house.

* * *

I went upstairs to put my stuff away in my room. After putting everything away, I walked out my room into the hallway to go grab something to eat.

I bumped into my mom. She looked pissed as always. Fucking surprise.

"So, did you finish your school work with Axel yet?"

I could tell by her tone that she was trying not to sound irritated. She's worse at lying than I am, so I saw through it.

I answered back, "Yeah, we finished it." There was a small pause.

I knew that I shouldn't have said what I said next, but it had been building for a while now.I felt myself say it without fully thinking.

I raised my voice, and said, "But what's you're fucking problem mom? You've been pissed at me for weeks. What the fuck did I do?" I felt myself grow hot.

"Roxas!" my mom shouted back, shocked. "Language!"

"Whatever, forget I fucking asked," I said, walking back to my room.

* * *

"Wait, honey!" my mom said loudly and reached out to touch my shoulder.

It took everything not to push the arm away in frustration. "What?" I replied shortly. I was trying to calm down, but it wasn't working very well.

I turned around and saw my mom. She looked angry… but also concerned. And hurt.

She continued by saying, "There's something we've been needing to talk about..."

I felt myself swallow nervously, bracing myself for what she was going to say next.

* * *

Thanks for reading the chapter guys! Sorry for the terrible cliffhanger… but hey, at least least you can rest assured that answers will be revealed in the next chapter! I hope the day treats you well, and hope to see you next time! Thank you so much guys!

-Dant


	15. Chapter 15: Advice

Okay guys, here's the latest installment! Enjoy!

* * *

I looked at my mom. She looked back at me, the concern still her eyes.

"Honey..." she said. I could tell she was having a hard time speaking. I saw her swallow.

What was it? Why has she been such a bitch to me lately.

"Honey, I..." she trailed off.

God, just say it already.

"Honey, I've uh, seen you and Axel kiss outside the window."

I looked at her, horrified. Shit, she knows.

"And uh, it's alright if you're dating someone. I'm okay with him being a guy..."

I felt disbelief crawl over me. I couldn't believe that she was talking about this right now. It was surreal.

"I'm… I'm just hurt that you didn't tell me about it! I've never even really met him! He could be a serial killer for all I know! You know I hate when you hide things from me, hon."

I could hear the mixture of anger, concern, and love in her voice.

The fact that she's not questioning that it's a guy or making a big deal about that surprised me. Maybe she's more understanding than I thought.

"I just… I worry, okay?" she said. I could hear her genuine care for me. The anger I had for her faded. I realized that she's just worried for me.

"Mom, I..." I struggled to keep talking. She looked at me, encouragingly.

Finally, after a long pause, I said, "Mom, sorry I hid it from you. I was… worried what you'd do when you knew it was a guy. And I wanted to keep taking lessons. I'm getting decent at guitar."

She looked at me kindly. Maybe she's not that bad…

"Honey, of course you can keep taking lessons. You're not bad, from what I hear when you practice. Just… please don't hide anything else from me, alright?"

I nodded.

"Also, I want to meet the guy my son's dating. Can you please bring him over here for your next lesson?"

"Uh mom… we're uh… not dating yet..."

She looked really confused, and then said, "What do you mean?"

"That we're just friends," I said matter of factly.

"Do you kiss all of your friends?" she said, laughing. The laughter reached her eyes. Looking into her eyes, I saw how they were the same crystal blue as mine.

I found the laughter infectious.

"No, I'm just uh… not sure what to do."

"What do you mean, honey?"

I can't believe I'm telling her this…

"I uh… I uh like him… a lot... but I've never really been with a guy before or really liked one. It's just...weird."

"Well you like him, right? Isn't that all that matters?"

"I mean, I guess..." I responded. I just feel so confused.

"I think you need to be honest with your feelings, Roxas. Don't worry about how you should feel. Focus on how you do feel. Take it from there."

Yeah, that made sense…

"But I don't know how I feel right now."

"Hmm..." she narrowed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. After a moment, she said, "Well for me it always helps to talk through my thoughts with someone else. It helps me figure out how I'm feeling. Maybe that'll help you?"

I laughed, and then said, "Only person I'm comfortable talking to about this sorta thing here is Axel. Probably not the best idea yet."

"Well what about from the old neighborhood? You, Hayner, Olette, and Pence would spend hours talking on the lawn. They were over after school almost every day. They were like children to me."

"Uh..maybe… I just don't know they'd react..." I said softly. The truth was that I didn't want to be rejected by my best friends. Especially since I'm just now getting used to liking guys…

"Well… I'd like to think that your friends would be accepting of who you are. I guess there's a chance they won't. If that does happen though, you don't need to keep talking to them."

I looked down, and said, "But… but I want to keep talking to them… Even if they don't like a part of me, I still think of them as friends..."

"Well there's your answer. Talk to them about it, but only if you think that's what you should do." She paused, and then continued, "Just do what you feel is right and best for you."

I looked up and saw my mom. She had a serious but caring look on her face. I didn't realize until now how good she was at giving advice.

"Thanks, mom," I said. I genuinely meant it.

"Of course, honey. Now come on, give me a hug!"

I rolled my eyes, but then laughed and gave her a hug back. I felt comforted by the hug.

Just talking to her helped me a lot. Honestly don't know why we don't talk more…

She said, "Well, I'll let you do whatever it was you were about to do. Sorry for overreacting before… I didn't treat you right and I apologize." She looked down, and I could hear the regret in her voice.

"It's alright mom. Sorry for hiding Axel from you."

"It's okay, hon."

I smiled. After a short pause, she said, "There's leftover lasagna in the fridge if you'd like some."

"Okay, thanks."

My mom made her way to her room across the hall. Before she opened her door, I said, "Wait. When did you see us kissing?"

"I opened the curtains in the front window to see if you were coming because you were late. That's when I saw you guys."

Realization struck me. That's right! I saw the curtains move while we were kissing. I had totally forgotten. Guess that was her.

She walked into her room and I went downstairs to get some of the lasagna. I was fucking starving.

* * *

I got out a plate, put some lasagna on it, and put it in the microwave. While waiting for it to cook, I got out my phone.

I laughed when I saw a message from Hayner that said, "Hey dude, it's been a while. What's up?" What are the odds?

I hadn't texted anyone from my old place since I got here, because saying goodbye to friends is hard enough without constantly being reminded of the fact that they're not with you.

Fuck, I miss them.

I texted back, as I took the lasagna out of the microwave and started eating. We caught up. Apparently he's dating this new chick, and she and Olette are really getting along well. They like clothes shopping together.

Talking to him made me realize how much I missed them, and how I wanted to start talking to them all again, like the old times.

I talked to him about my new friends, the band, how I was taking guitar lessons, among other things.

After catching up, and after I had eaten all of my lasagna, I finally decided I should ask him.

"Hey man, so there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Yeah, sure. What's up, man?"

I swallowed. Then after working up the courage, I started typing. I typed about how there's this guy that I like a lot and we've gotten physical, but I'm scared to date because I don't know what dating a guy is like.

I typed about how I didn't fully realize that I liked guys until recently, but it's something I always knew but ignored.

I typed about how confused I was about what I should do about the situation with Axel, and described what Axel was like.

I tried to type my feelings for Axel, but had a hard time putting it into words.

I didn't type that I had been attracted to Hayner since we were young, but didn't fully know what those feelings were and didn't want to accept them.

I did type, however, that I was having a hard time coming to terms with my sexuality, and how I'm feeling.

I hesitated for a bit and then press send.

I waited for Hayner to respond to the massive block of text that I sent him. I nervously looked around the room, checking the clock on the wall every 15 seconds or so.

* * *

Finally, after what felt like forever, I heard my phone ding. I looked at his response.

"Dude, I had no idea you liked guys. That's gotta be hard. Sure you'll get used to it someday. Axel sounds like someone that would be in our group if he was here. Sounds pretty cool."

He then sent, "Seriously though, you've talked to me before about girls you liked and your feelings for Clara and Justine. You've never talked to me about liking someone this much. I know it's gotta be strange for you, but if you feel as happy around Axel as you make it sound, you should go for it, man! Sounds like he's pretty into you, too."

Reading his response, I was again surprised at how he was totally alright with me liking guys. Maybe I should start being more accepting of the fact that I like guys, myself…

Clara and Justine were girls that I dated. I was with Clara for 6 months and Justine for 2 months. Like he said though, I never felt this way about them. Honestly, I can't imagine feeling this way about anyone else besides Axel. I fucking like him so much and being around him really does make me so happy.

"Yeah, you're right. Don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone. It's so weird, man. Again, don't know what I should do."

I waited for him to respond. I looked at where the messenger said, "Hayner is typing…"

After a very short time I saw the message and heard my phone ding.

"Do what you think is right. I think you know what you should do, just give it some thought."

This reminded me of what my mom said.

After a moment, I typed, "Yeah, I think you're right. Thanks."

"Anytime. I should get going, but I'll talk to you later. But try to message me sooner than a month this time. Bye, man, wish you luck."

I laughed, and smiled. Talking to Hayner really did help me figure out my feelings. Honestly, I was thankful for my mom's and Hayner's advice. I said goodbye to Hayner and put my dishes in the sink.

* * *

Just as I was thinking about how grateful I was, I heard my phone ding once again. I looked at my phone.

"Hey." I felt my stomach turn.

It was Axel.

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Gotta say I liked this one quite a bit myself! Anywho, hope the day treats you well and I hope to see you next time! Bye!

-Dant


	16. Chapter 16: Downpour

I woke up the next day. Trying to get my bearings, I reached for my phone to check the time. I woke up early for once.

As I checked the time, I saw a message from Axel. Said that he was going to be at my house to pick me up at 11. Fuck, I'm so nervous… Not that I'd let him know that.

Yesterday, Axel had messaged me to say that he wanted to talk to me about something. What that something is, I have no clue, and the anxiety is killing me. Doesn't help that part of me wants to tell him all about… how I feel about him.

I found myself replaying the events of yesterday: My fun with Axel and us finally finishing the damn project, the argument with Clyde, and talking open and honestly about Axel to my mom and Hayner. The fact that I was so open about everything was weird coming from me. Honestly though, it feels pretty good, as lame as it is. Maybe telling Axel how I feel would be best.

God, I don't know...

Anyway, Axel messaged me yesterday to ask if we could chill because there's something he wanted to talk about. He was supposed to be busy today, but apparently Axel's cousin's wedding was canceled last night. Guess there was trouble in paradise: namely their house maid Amanda.

I said yeah to hanging out… kinda nervous what he's going to talk about though…

Since it's only 7, I decided to sleep until 10 to get some more sleep.

* * *

It was hard to fall asleep at first because I was anticipating what Axel wanted to talk about. He had said it was important. I was able to fall back asleep again after a bit though. Then I woke up to the sound of my alarm. It was 10.

I stretched, got out of bed, and then went to look for what I should wear. I decided on a black and white checkerboard plaid button up and some black skinny jeans. I wanted to uh, look good for Axel. I put on some cologne and deodorant really quick before going to the kitchen to grab something to eat. I got a couple breakfast sandwiches out of the freezer and microwaved it. I don't like to cook much.

I ate them at the table while scrolling through my news feed. The whole time I felt a little nervous for what Axel was going to say and how things would go. I went to the bathroom to take a shit, washed my hands, and then brushed my teeth so it didn't smell like something died when I opened my mouth.

Finally Axel messaged me saying he was out front. I threw the wrappers from the sandwiches away and placed the plate in the sink. Then I made my way outside.

* * *

He waved cheerfully at me from his car. I ran toward him and opened the passenger seat and got in.

"Hey, what's up man? Long time no see," Axel said, grinning.

I felt happy to see him again. I grinned back and said, "Not much. So what did you want to talk about?" I felt nervousness wash over me again, my stomach full of knots.

He laughed and said, "Let's talk about that later. Wanna go for a run? We can talk about it then."

I really wasn't dressed to go running but I agreed. I buckled my seat belt and Axel drove us to his house. After 10 minutes or so, he pulled into his driveway. We got out of the car and began our run.

I said, "Man, it's gloomy out today."

"Probably because it's overcast."

"Yeah, probably..."

The conversation died there. I tried to focus on running, but the tension of not knowing what he wanted to talk about was killing me. I tried my best not to let Axel know...

We talked a bit about his cousin's called off wedding. Axel said, smirking, "Hey at least they got the infidelity out of the way first. Usually takes years into the marriage. I'm proud of them."

I laughed, but I was having a hard time not focusing on what I wanted to possibly talk to Axel about.

I tried to drag it on a bit. I said, in between panting, "Glad we're fucking done with the moth project. Just wish I woulda known we'd have an extra day."

"Yeah. Their marriage should've fallen apart on a schedule that was convenient for us."

"Yeah, it was pretty rude of them. You know, I wasn't planning on getting them a wedding present before, but I'm definitely not going to now."

We shared a glance and laughed. I looked into his vibrant green eyes and then kept on running. Fuck his eyes are gorgeous…

Some more time passed, before I decided to ask, swallowing nervously, "So what was it you wanted to talk about? Everything alright?" I tried to sound as calm as possible but the strain in my voice gave my anxiousness away.

He gestured toward a bench, and we both sat down.

"Yeah, everything is great," Axel said, smiling. Fuck, I sense a 'but' coming.

"But," he continued, "I..."

He trailed off. I looked at him, a look of concern on my face. I waited for him to continue.

After a brief moment he said, passion filling his voice, "I really like you Roxas, and I want to spend more time together. Spend hours gaming, grabbing dinner, doesn't matter. Being around you I always have fun. Only reason I could tolerate that fucking project was because you were next to me..." He looked at me, blushing, a strange look in his eyes. I could tell he meant everything he was saying and I felt my heart pound loudly. He trailed off for a moment before finally saying, " I know you said you'd think about it weeks ago… so what do you think now? About us."

I heard thunder rumble in the distance, as I looked up to see that the sky had darkened. Looks like it's going to come down soon. Still, I had to say it. I had to be honest, as hard as it would be.

I swallowed, before finally saying, looking at the ground, " Um, I uh… I really like you too… It's hard to put into words how I feel about you, but yeah, that uh sounds good. We should… uh… We should get to know each other better and uh… start going out. Sorry it took a bit, I've uh never been with a guy before. Don't know what it's like." I felt my face flush as I looked down in embarrassment. It felt weird being so vulnerable around Axel. Usually I'd just pretend that I was above caring. But now I realized that no matter what, he'd accept me, even if I was being fucking lame.

We could be honest with each other. Realizing that felt good.

He gave me a soft, loving smile. I could tell he was so happy to hear that I felt the same. I smiled back and laughed lightly. I felt so fucking relieved that I let him know what I'm feeling.

We both moved in instinctively and kissed each other passionately. With my eyes closed, I deepened the kiss, running my hand through his hair before pulling away suddenly. "People can see us..."

"Let them watch." Axel said, smirking. But he pulled away. "Kidding. I know when I first came out, I didn't want to do anything in public either. I didn't even hold hands with my first boyfriend in public. I know it's fucking stupid.

"No, I get it," I said, looking into his eyes. I looked down and then said, "It's like I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable that might be around or some stupid shit."

"To be fair, we were fully making out in public. Pretty sure that's bad even if you're straight." He laughed, cutting through my worries.

I smiled.

Axel continued, "This is new to you, right? Don't worry, You'll get used to it! It just takes time. It was hard for me at first too."

"Thanks, it's uh… weird. I've known for a while I think but never admitted to myself." I heard more thunder, this time closer. I felt the air shift slightly.

"Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help, man. Or anything you're not comfortable with." Again, I could tell that he meant it, which made me smile.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Then I decided to tell him about the conversation I had with my mom.

"My mom knew I was dating a guy before I told her, too! Could tell by how I acted around the guy I was dating I guess."

I laughed, and said, "Well it doesn't help that your mom can read minds or is psychic or something. Wouldn't be surprised if she knew we just started dating."

"Let me call and ask," Axel said deviously.

"No!" I shouted, pushing his shoulder lightly.

"Just kidding. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised either. She knows every time I lie about something."

"Yeah, she could tell when I lied to her, too."

"Roxas, anyone can tell when you lie, you fucking suck at it. Most 6 year-olds are more convincing than you." He smirked.

"Yeah, I'd make a terrible politician. It's a shame..." I said with a fake wistful tone. Axel laughed.

"It really is. The world needs more cute politicians like you," he said, in a slightly seductive tone.

I felt my cheeks turn red.

As I was about to open my mouth to retaliate, I felt heavy raindrops fall over us.

As if the sky had just been opened, the sky assaulted us with a torrential downpour. Just fucking great.

Over the sound of cracking thunder and the loud downpour of rain I said loudly, "I think we should head back."

I barely heard him laugh over the rain, as he said loudly back, "No shit!"

We sprinted back toward Axel's house, getting soaked in the process. It was at least a three mile run back.

The rain decided to not let up until we were already almost there. Of fucking course.

Panting, we walked the rest of the way back to Axel's.

* * *

Finally we made it back to Axel's and walked through the door, fucking drenched.

Expecting to see his mom, I asked where she was.

"My mom and dad went to my cousin's house for the day. Trying to be there for her. Fucking terrible situation."

Yeah, I can't imagine getting cheated on the day before the wedding… Fucking asshole.

"Hey, let's go into my room. Get you into some dry clothes." We walked down the hallway and into his room.

I laughed internally before saying in a seductive tone, "You always have a way of making me wet, Axel."

There was a slight look of surprise on his face before he smirked. "Huh, do I now?"

* * *

I could see him looking at me, drinking me in. My button up shirt was clinging to my chest, and my already tight skinny jeans were clinging to my body like a second skin.

Axel's black t-shirt and black ripped jeans clung to his body as well, showing off the rippling muscles underneath his shirt. His styled hair was messy because of the rain and he looked so fucking delicious.

I felt myself looking hungrily at him. I decided to pretend to struggle unbuttoning my shirt.

Then, feigning innocence I said, "I'm having a hard time with this. Can you help me take off my shirt?"

Axel quickly closed the distance between us, unbuttoning my shirt. While unbuttoning, he started kissing and biting a trail down my neck as I felt a tingle throughout my body.

With my shirt now open, I started making out with Axel deeply, feeling the overwhelming feelings for him surface.

One hand started playing with his hair while the other hand snaked underneath Axel's tight shirt and explored his muscular chest and abs.

I laughed softly when I heard a slight squeak after pinching his right nipple. He took my shirt off slowly and started caressing my back. I felt myself arch into his warm touch.

I started lifting his wet shirt over his head, admiring his glistening chiseled body in the process.

I felt his caressing hands move from my back down slowly to my butt, massaging me through my pants before moving the attention to the button of my jeans. I felt my pants tighten in anticipation of his warm touch.

I reached over to unbutton his pants as well, but because of the rain, they clung to his body too much to take off myself. I gestured toward his bed and we both sat down to take our pants off. It took a while because the fabric stuck to our legs. We both laughed at how awkward it was. Then we both removered are soaked socks.

Suddenly, with both of us in just our underwear, Axel pushed me further onto the bed and took my nipple in his mouth. I moaned, caught offguard as I felt Axel suck and lick my nipple with his hot mouth. I moaned even louder when I felt Axel's hand massage the contents of my briefs, rubbing the sensitive tip of my dick through the thin fabric.

Noticing the big bulge in Axel's black boxer briefs, I decided to return the favor. I started moving my hand up and down the shaft before playing with his balls. He elicited a moan of arousal while moving to my other nipple, sucking hard. Axel began caressing my length teasingly, then pulled on the fabric and rubbed my dick in the process. I felt my breath hitch and herad Axel laugh gently.

I rubbed up his leg gently before tugging on the waistband of his boxer briefs, pulling them off.

Tired of waiting, I took his hard dick into my mouth, running my tongue along the sides sensually and sucking softly. Axel moaned loudly.

Axel positioned himself differently on the bed, before ripping my underwear off. He then took my cock into his mouth, making my cock throb and my body melt as I continued sucking him sensually.

As he sucked and licked my dick, I felt overwhelming desire. Maybe it was partly because Axel and I were interrupted yesterday by fucking Clyde and I wasn't able to climax… But I wanted nothing more than to feel Axel's dick cum inside me.

I stopped sucking Axel's dick long enough to say, in between pants and moans of pleasure, " I want you inside me so fucking badly. Please."

Axel stopped giving my dick attention for a moment, and looked at me. His eyes were full of lust, but also of… concern I think.

"Are you sure? I dont want to pressure you into anything you don't want. It might hurt a bit. I'm uh… pretty big and I don't want to hurt you. Sure you don't want to fuck me instead?"

"Please, Axel!" I could feel the desire staining my voice. Normally I'd be embarrassed, but the desire to get closer to Axel was almost debilitating.

"Are you sure?"

"Please!"

I could hear desire stain his voice as well as he said, "Okay, I'll do everything to make it feel good and hurt less."

I squealed when I unexpectedly felt one of Axel's fingers enter my hole.

"Sorry, shoulda warned you." Yeah, you should have, dick!

I felt myself clench up around it as Axel moved his finger around.

Before long three of Axel's fingers were inside of me, swirling around in different directions. As Axel stretched inside me, I felt myself become looser. Such a fucking strange feeling. Axel started jerking himself off as he was doing this.

As Axel thrusted his warm fingers into me, I felt so much pleasure.

"I… I'm r-ready… Please… fuck me!"

I heard a moan of desire. Then Axel said, "Okay one second."

Axel took his fingers out of me as I felt myself whine. Fuck what am I, a dog?! Fucking whining?

He went to his dresser and grabbed something from his top drawer.

As he sat back down on the bed, I could see that it was a condom and some lube. I watched him roll the condom onto his dick and put some lube on it, stroking his dick a few times.

Then he put quite a bit of lube onto his fingers and returned to move his fingers around inside me. I gasped. It was so fucking cold! He was on his knees in front of me as I was on my back, legs lifted into the air.

Realization that Axel and I were finally going to do it hit me, and made me so nervous. I just hope I don't fuck anything up like I do with a lot of things… Still, I felt so much anticipation to feel Axel in me.

"Are you ready, Roxas?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," I mumbled softly.

* * *

I felt the tip of his dick against my hole, as he started slowly pushing it in. Fuck!

"I'm going to try to go slow so it'll hurt less." I could tell from his voice that he was having a hard time restraining himself, but my mind was buzzing. I couldn't think about much now besides Axel inside of me.

He gradually inched his girth inside of me, filling me with the most mind numbing warmth I've ever felt.

I felt my insides envelop Axel's throbbing cock, as Axel pushed further and further inside me. I wanted more than for Axel to fill me completely.

Our moans, grunts, and panting filled the room, blending with the sound of rain and thunder from outside.

I heard Axel exhale. He said in a strained voice, "I'm gonna start moving."

I could feel every curve and inch of his dick. I felt my dick react to this realization. I grunted okay.

I felt him slowly move his dick out of me before moving back in.

"Fuck!" I yelled.

That felt so fucking good.

"Are you okay?" I could hear the concern in his voice.

"I'm… f-fine, keep going." I couldn't formulate full sentences right now.

"Let me know if it hurts."

"yeah."

He thrust again, a bit harder this time. I moaned loudly. Fuck!

He started thrusting harder and faster until we both found a pattern. I was thrusting into it, wanting him to go deeper and deeper inside me.

I could feel him throb inside me and hear his moans accompany mine. It felt so fucking good and I felt so close to Axel in this moment. I wanted him deeper.

"D...Deeper," I managed to say.

He started thrusting deeper and faster, making my body feel more alive than it ever had before. Axel shifted slightly, thrusting deeply.

Suddenly I felt my mind go blank with the most pleasurable feeling I've ever had. " Aaah!"

I heard Axel chuckle lightly as he kept on thrusting. I think he hit my prostate. Our pants and moaning got louder and louder as I felt closer and closer to orgasm.

"I..I'm c-close."

He moaned, "Me t-too."

"Harder..."

Axel obliged, thrusting harder and faster into my prostate. Even though he was thrusting harder though, his movements were still so gentle. It was almost like I felt Axel's feelings towards me more and more with each thrust, making my heart pound loudly.

Finally, my body couldn't take the pleasurable feelings anymore, as I screamed, "F-FUCK, I'M C-CUMMING!" as I felt orgasm wash over me and overwhelm me, making my whole body spasm in ecstasy.

I clenched around Axel's dick tightly as I felt him climax inside me shortly after I did. "FUUCK!" he screamed.

My mind went completely blank as I felt myself go limp.

* * *

That was the best fucking orgasm of my life by far. My mind was consumed with overwhelming feelings toward Axel, and I felt so unbelievably happy. Being with him like that… it just felt like we were meant to do that or something...

I decided to prop myself up and looked at Axel. His eyes were closed.

Both of us were panting heavily, tired after a long day of running and uh… alternative exercise.

Finally though, Axel opened his eyes, looking back at me, his eyes gazing into my own. We both beamed at each other, as I felt myself fill with overwhelming happiness once again. Fuck.

We sat in silence for a moment, feeling the afterglow of orgasm, before Axel broke the silence.

"So… we should probably get washed up, don't you think?"

"Yeah, probably a good idea…" I said, trying not took look Axel directly in the eyes.

These feelings that I have for him that I finally started being honest to myself about… it's all fucking confusing and weird…

But good. Actually… pretty fucking great.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Axel pulled out of me, making me squeal in surprise.

Axel laughed, and said , "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He pulled his condom off and threw it in the garbage. He grabbed some clothes for him and for me quickly, not seeming to put much thought into what clothes he was grabbing.

Pretty sure he just wanted something warm and dry.

As I stood up, I felt the effects that sex had had on my body, feeling a bit sore… Still, it surprisingly didn't really hurt like I though it would… Still I could tell I wasn't walking quite like I normally would.

We got into the shower, feeling the warm water wash over us. We lathered our hair with Axel's shampoo, as I felt enveloped in Axel's intoxicating smell. After that we used his conditioner, which smelled like a pine forest. Then we lathered eachother's bodies with his men's bodywash, which again smelled so good. I ran my hand slowly over his muscular chest, as he started rubbing my abs.

Careful to stop before we started having sex again in the shower, we got out of the shower after thoroughly rinsing our bodies and dried off with a couple towels, feeling the cold air hit us as soon as we left the shower.

"So how you feeling?" He asked casually, but I could hear concern in his voice as well.

We started putting on the clothes he laid out for us. All black, big surprise.

I looked at the ground before saying, "A bit sore but not bad. It uh… was really great… Uh, thanks..."

Thanks? THANKS? It sounds like I'm thanking him for a present or something! I'm so fucking lame.

Still, to my surprise, Axel just smiled at me, and said, "Good. I thought it was pretty great, too. You did good for your first time."

I felt myself smile back, relieved that Axel seemed to have a good time too.

When we finally had all of the clothes on, Axel asked, " So… Want to play Zombie War 3?"

"Fuck yeah, I love those games!" I shouted excitedly! I had completed Zombie War 2, including all side quests and collectibles. Axel had good taste.

"Hahahaha, Okay, let me get it set up!"

* * *

We made our way to the living room, and he booted the game up. I relaxed on his couch wearing his clothes that were swimming on me. After putting a pizza in the oven for us, he sat next to me as we started shooting zombies together with blaster guns.

We talked about Clyde, about some of our teachers, my sister, and really whatever came to mind.

The whole time, even though we were just playing a game and talking about dumb stuff, I felt… so connected to him now that we were dating. Even though he was being so... sweet, he was still Axel, making jokes about making Zombie pie.

Spending time with Axel, I felt at peace for once. Everything felt alright... Like maybe this world wasn't so fucking bad after all.

* * *

Okay guys, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was a long one compared to normal! The story thus far was building up to this point, so I hope you enjoyed the climax! ;) Pun intended. Anyway, I hope to see you next chapter, and hope you have a great day!

-dant


	17. Chapter 17: A Message

It's only been a day after Axel and I started to date… and it's been fucking weird.

When we both got to school the next day, holding hands, we got shit from everyone at the table. To be expected. Everyone seemed really happy for us, though.

Demyx talked about how excited he was for us. This conversation made Zexion start talking like crazy about how great we were for each other and how happy he was for us, while Axel and I just looked each other and laughed in amusement as they kept talking about us enthusiastically.

After listening to them talk back and forth excitedly for a bit, we decided to have a "double date" at the mall on Tuesday. I felt nerves in the pit of my stomach, but Axel and I agreed to it without too much argument. It was fucking weird that we were having conversations like this now, though...

The only one that didn't seem to share in the excitement of the new relationship was Clyde. The moment he saw us, he sneered and turned away from us. He continued to stay away from the usual table the whole time we were there. Not that I minded, he's a fucking prick.

If I didnt know better, I'd say that he felt bad for what he said on the phone to Axel… But I know that's not at all the case.

* * *

Axel and I decided to be open about our relationship, since people are pretty accepting of gay relationships here. Still… it kind of felt weird to be openly gay...or whatever I am. I felt stares as Axel walked me from band to bio.

They weren't bad stares, just curious glances I guess… Still, I felt myself shy away from the attention, as I felt people's eyes on me. Part of me was still trying to come to terms with my feelings for Axel since I'd, uh, never dated a guy before. I tried to pretend like I didn't care about the attention.

As if Axel could sense I was uncomfortable though, he squeezed my hand gently and then let go.

I felt myself grow sad… Although I didn't like the attention much, I liked the warm feeling that tingled through my body every time we touched. Like an electric current between us.

Fuck, I'm so fucking sappy it's sickening.

I just hope people start minding their own god damn business soon. As I was thinking that though, I snaked my hand back into Axel's. I'll let them fucking stare, I just… really wanted to hold his hand.

* * *

The day passed pretty fast. Axel and I turned in our fucking moth project, and immediately started passing notes to each other the entire class period.

During lunch, Axel joined me in the lunch line to keep me company. It was nice. Then, at the lunch table we talked about how our weekends were and also about Clyde.

Zexion said coolly, "So you guys spent all week learning about moths. I'm jealous."

We laughed. Axel said, smirking, "We still have the library books if you want to read up on your favorite moths, Zexy."

"I'm good." There was a slight smile on his face.

Demyx and Zexion talked a bit about how they went to a new diner yesterday and how good the food was and about a new movie they saw. Apparently _Super Seige 7_ was way better than the last one. They're all pretty shitty in my opinion though.

Then after a lull in conversation, Axel and I explained the not so pleasant phone call we got from Clyde.

Demyx, face full of horror, said very loudly, "What a fucking asshole! I woulda yelled at him too, Axel! He completely crossed the line! How DARE he say that to you! And Roxy, I'm so sorry you had to hear that too! He doesn't know what he's talking about! Zexy and I understand that you needed to get that project done! We'll make up for the lost time, it's totally fine. We'll get more practices in. Work longer. What's not fine though is how much of a dick Clyde is! Like seriously, who does he fucking think he is!?"

He kept going off. Honestly, it was pretty nice to hear how much he clearly cared and how disgusted he was by what Clyde had said. Finally though, I interrupted him, saying, "Okay Demyx, we get it." I chuckled. Then after a short pause, "Thanks."

Axel said, "I messaged him earlier, letting him know that we have practice today and that we're going a bit longer to make some time up. We'll see what he does."

"I'm done with him. He's a prick." It was Zexion that spoke up. There was a murmur of agreement at the table and then the bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch.

* * *

Before I knew it, school was out and it was time to meet up. We met by our table so we could all walk to Axel's together for practice.

Looking around though as I made my way to the table, I saw only Axel, Demyx, and Zexion.

I stood next to Axel. "Did he ever reply," I asked anxiously. Honestly, part of me hoped that we'd be done with him. He's always been an ass to everyone in the band. He's such a dick and so egocentric. Everything about him annoys me. Still, the battle of the bands is in a few weeks and he's the drummer, so for the band's sake part of me hoped he'd be at practice. I felt conflicted and wasn't sure what I wanted Axel to say.

"Well..." Axel said, "He pretty much told us that we should all fuck off and that he's done being brought down by our lack of talent and motivation. So." The conversation trailed off there.

I could feel the disbelief and anger around me in response to what Clyde had said.

"So," I said, "What should we do then? You guys are out a drummer, and the battle of the bands is in a month." As much as I hated to admit it, Clyde was a solid drummer. The band needed a good drummer to compete.

I continued, "You guys HAVE to play, so who can we get to be the drummer and learn the songs so close to the battle?"

All three of them turned to me, staring at me like an idiot.

"Roxas..." Zexion said softly.

Then realization hit me.

"Oh."

* * *

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've uploaded! Unfortunately I've been going through a lot of health stuff for the last month or so, so all the moments not spent working have been largely spent resting! Hopefully I'll feel better soon and upload more frequently. Sorry again!

I hope I see you next chapter though and appreciate your patience.

Thanks!

-Dant


	18. Chapter 18: Lyrics

I gotta say, the first practice as part of the band went pretty well.

* * *

Clyde was always a solid drummer, but listening to him play, there were always things that could be tweaked. If I ever pointed them out to him, he'd probably yell at me. Probably say that I didn't know what I was talking about, and that I should leave. Then he'd just keep playing without taking the advice.

He wasn't there though, and I was the one playing, so I fixed his mistakes and added my own touches to the drum line.

I think I was able to make the songs more dynamic and interesting than Clyde did. It was better than the last time I played with the band, too.

The way the rest of the band was jamming out, I could tell that they were enjoying the changes I made. Plus Zexion wouldn't stop raving about my drum skills. So… that was pretty nice, really. I mean I guess I'm alright… Don't really like compliments much, though.

The main problem though was what we were going to play for the third song.

The other two were pretty much set. Man Against the Machine was a hardcore song with a lot of scream vocals and electrifying heavy guitar riffs. My Dark Little Secret showed off Zexion's poetic lyrics and soft vocals and was full of emotion. The whole band was really confident with those songs, and with how different they were, they showed that Teenage Rebellion had good range.

But we had 15 minutes max to play during the battle of the bands. The other songs together were about 9 minutes long, so we needed one more.

There were a few possible songs to pick, but they could never decide which one would be best to finish the set.

With only a month left before the battle of the bands though, we needed to figure it out so we could fine tune it.

"I Hate Everything About You always gets the crowd going! The guitar solo is absolutely great, the energy is great, and Axel's screaming and anger is great in that song! We should definitely play it, guys!" Demyx said excitedly, punching his fist forward into the air.

"It's too similar to Man Against the Machine. Let's pick something else. Lasting Remorse?" Zexion, inquired cooly.

Lasting Remorse was a song that showed off Zexion's introspective lyrics and emotional voice. It was about the guilt you have for never being good enough.

It was good song, but… "That song's good, but doesn't it sound too similar to My Dark Little Secret?"

There was a short pause before there was a murmur of agreement.

"Maybe," I continued, "We could do a song that uses Axel's writing and Zexion's writing. Combine the styles together."

There was another small pause before Demyx went straight toward me, nearly knocking into the drum kit in the process, to give me a large hug. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that, that's a great idea Roxy! You're already doing a great job being part of the band, man!" He nearly shouted all of this.

Axel smiled over at me. I felt my heart skip a beat. "That's not a bad idea, actually. Zexy, do you want to start working on something together?"

Zexion nodded.

* * *

The rest of practice was spent jamming together, trying to come up with different musical lines and lyrics for the new song. We kept practicing until it was late. Late enough that I had to tell my mom I was going to be home late. But gotta say… playing together really was a lot of fun.

* * *

It was the next day, and I was excited. Later that day we were going to go to the mall together.

I thought I'd be nervous since it was our first official date… But all of us got along so well that more than anything the school day was stained with anticipation.

The school day began with Axel and Zexion talking about more ideas for the song. Apparently they had both written some ideas for lyrics. Now they had to figure out how to combine them together.

During bio, I looked at Axel's lyrics. They were great, all about lashing out at people around him. Axel could always capture rage well.

We shared notes and I complimented his lyrics. He thanked me, but said we was afraid that Zexy and him wouldn't be able to make a cohesive song together.

* * *

When Algebra rolled around and I looked at Zexion's lyrics, I understood where the fear was coming from.

Zexion's lyrics were introspective, about looking within and not liking what you see. They were really well written, poetic, and emotional.

I laughed, and was instantly hushed by the teacher. I couldn't help it though. The contrast between Axel's firey rage and Zexion's cool introspection… It was kind of hilarious how different they were.

Still...it made me kinda nervous that it might not work.

I looked at the clock all period, waiting for it to be over, until finally the bell rang.

I told Zexion I'd see him soon, he nodded and smiled cooly, and then I headed out into the hallway.

I grabbed my stuff from my locker and made my way to the usual spot.

* * *

Everyone was already there, waiting for me.

We talked a bit about what we wanted to do at the mall.

Then we made our way to Axel's.

* * *

Okay guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it's a bit on the short side, I just felt this would be a good place to leave off! I hope to see you next chapter, when they all go to the mall! Have a good day everyone!

-Dant


	19. Chapter 19: The Mall

" We absolutely HAVE to sing karaoke! Ooooh! And roller skating! And we gotta gotta gotta go to Hot Topic! That store is the BEST!"

Dexyx was talking excitedly on the car drive over to the mall.

"We're right here, babe, you don't need to shout," Zexion said cooly, a slight smile on his face.

"Sorry…." Demyx smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

The mall was about thirty minutes away from Axel's house, so the car ride gave us more than enough time to talk about what we were going to do.

I'd never been there, so they were talking about what we could do.

"There's a movie theater, a roller rink, karaoke, an arcade, bowling, and every store you can think of. I'm surprised they can fit it all in one building," Axel said. He looked over at me from the driver's seat. "Anything sound good?"

I thought about it. My singing voice sounds like a screeching owl. Or should I say a screeching death's head hawkmoth? Either way, I really didn't want to embarrass myself in front of Axel so singing was out.

Unless we were using golf scoring, bowling was out. I hit the gutter more than I hit pins.

"Roller skating sounds good. The arcade, too." It had been years since I last skated so it sounded fun. Also, I'm pretty good with a joystick so facing off against Axel sounded like a fun challenge.

* * *

After the car ride, we made it to the mall, and the place was huge. Couldn't believe that a mall this big was so close to our small town.

The building was a cool gray color and the outside was tall but inviting. There were small trees and flowers that divided the rows in the parking lot.

The parking lot was full of cars, and lines of people were entering the mall.

Overall, the mall looked pretty nice from the outside.

"It's probably going to be busy since school just got out! Lots of people come here after school to hang out! The weekends get NUTS though! The whole place gets jam packed with people!" Demyx said cheerfully as we walked toward the entrance.

"I mean, sounds like anything you could want is here," I said, looking over to Axel. He smiled at me and walked next to me.

He laced his fingers into mine, and we walked through the doors. "Yeah, pretty much."

* * *

The moment we entered I found myself scanning inside. There was a directory in front of us that showed all three main floors and the cafeteria area on the bottom floor.

Who the fuck decided to make a mall this fucking huge in the middle of nowhere?

Still, looking at the light wood flooring, the attractive store fronts and windows spanning far into the distance, and the many stands and kiosks in the middle of the walkway… It was pretty nice.

We looked at the directory to decide what we were going to do.

Didn't really want to shop, but Zexion said he wanted to go to the book store, so we did that first.

"So what do you think man, isn't it great? There's a fountain on the other side of the mall that's freaking sweet! You gotta see that, too!" Demyx said enthusiastically as we made our way to the book store.

"Pretty cool. Feels more like a maze than a mall though... Did they decide to build every store in the world under one roof?"

Everyone laughed, and then then Zexion replied, "Yeah."

* * *

We made it to a book store called "The Book Worm."

The book store had a bit of everything. I saw signs above rows and rows of books. "Romance," "Young Adult," "Science Fiction," and "Non Fiction" were all there as I'd expect. What I didn't expect was a comic book section toward the back.

Zexion went straight to the science fiction section with Demyx, while Axel and I headed to the back of the store to look at the comic books.

There was a good selection of comic books from different comic book universes. Some I'd never even heard of, like a comic book series about fencing. Others had well known super heroes.

As both Axel and I were scanning the shelves lined with different comic book issues, we both reached for the newest issue of "Charm."

The cover had a busty lady with long black hair in a tight navy spandex suit, with a red heart on her chest.

"Huh, I didn't know you read Charm too," I said, turning to Axel.

Axel smiled, and said, "She's a super villain that gets people to do her bidding by charming them with her looks. I guess I just relate to her, you know."

I gave him a look and then we both laughed. The we started talking about the series.

"I still think she might get reformed. She's in love with one of the super heroes trying to stop her, after all."

"There's no way!" I replied fervently, "Like someone with that power wouldn't be totally corrupted by it!"

He laughed. "Sounds like you're being a bit judgmental, Roxy. I mean, do you know her personally?"

I rolled my eyes and then we both laughed. "Whatever, I still don't think it'll happen." We exchanged another look and we both smiled. It was nice to have someone else that likes comic books to talk to.

After both of us bought a copy of the new Charm issue and Zexion bought some obscure science fiction classic called "Sand Shifter," we made our way toward the skating rink.

Zexion told us about a failed tv pilot for a Sand Shifter TV show while we were walking.

"It was so bad. The desert planet looked like a sand box. Also, the writing was terrible," Zexion said.

* * *

The skating rink was a pretty decent size, especially for being in a mall. We got our skates, put them on, and then started skating.

While on the skating room floor, Demyx fell so many times that I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're really not good at this, are you?" I asked him after skating over to him. I extended a hand down to him.

"What gave it away?" he asked weakly. We both laughed and I helped him up. "I think I'll go sit down now..." He continued, sheepishly.

As Demyx and Zexion skated away to go sit down, I overheard Zexion say softly, "You just can't stop falling for me, huh?" and I smirked.

Axel and I kept skating for a bit longer. If I just paid $10 to skate then I'm gonna get my fucking money's worth, god damn it!

Axel and I were both pretty good at skating, and we weaved in and out of people, while talking about nothing… We even stayed skating for the couple's skate… it was nice…

After a while we decided to take our skates off and go. But just as I put my shoes on and heard "Last chance for couple's skate" blaring on the speaker, I saw….

Was that Clyde?

For a second it looked like Clyde in a gray beanie holding hands with a guy in a yellow plaid shirt heading on the floor for couple's skate… But it couldn't be.

They were going by fast so I'm probably just imaging it.

Clyde's straight, or at least pretty sure he is.

I brushed the thought away, and we returned our skates and left to go to Hot Topic.

* * *

When we got there, there was hard rock blaring from the speakers and there was an employee in tight black ripped skinny jeans and a tight black and white checkered shirt that greeted us. Girl after my own heart.

We looked around at the different fandom and band merchandise that lined the racks and walls.

Looking at the band shirts on the wall, I think I recognized about half… Which kinda made me feel lame for some reason…

I looked at the accessory section and saw a black and white studded bracelet that I thought was really cool, so I got it. I'm just lucky my mom gave me some money when she heard I was going out on a date. She never usually does.

Demyx ended up buying a studded belt, and Zexion bought a button that said "Yaoi: It's a guy thing" on it.

Surprised that he didn't get anything I asked Axel as we left the store, "Why didn't you get anything?"

"I already own everything here." Axel smirked, and then smiled warmly at me.

We all laughed.

"Hey, that didn't stop me!" Demyx said loudly.

"Where to next? Wanna eat?" I asked everyone. I was fucking starving, so I was hoping they'd say yeah.

"Yes please! I'm fucking STARVING! Like I could seriously go for some Chinese!"

"Yeah."

"Sounds good, babe."

* * *

We made our way down to the bottom floor, going down the escalators, until finally making it to the food court.

The food court had everything you could think of. Fast food, Chinese, Ice cream, burgers, pizza, Coffee, even Indian food. Gotta say, I was impressed.

"Hey, there's this place I think you'd like," Axel said, smiling at me.

"Okay, I'll check it out."

Demyx made a beeline for the Chinese place, while Zexion headed to "The Venetian Vegan." How fucking specific can a restaurant be?

My hand in Axel's, I felt him guide me until we reached our destination.

I looked up to see a sign that said "Cheese Hut" in the middle of a cartoon cheese wheel.

I quirked a brow.

"Trust me." Axel smirked.

I continued to look at him in disbelief. Then I looked at the menu.

Cheese.

Lots and lots of cheese.

Looked like their main thing was grilled cheese but they also had cheese sticks, cheese curds, and Cheese cake. Just looking at it made me fucking constipated.

Still, I looked at the menu and got the cheddar, muester, and swiss grilled cheese with tomato basil soup. Got some water to wash it down, too.

Axel got the mushroom and swiss grilled cheese, tomato soup, and Dr. Pepper.

* * *

We looked around the room before finding Demyx and Zexion already sitting at a table. We made our way over to them. The moment they saw us with the tacky orange plastic trays, they turned to each other and laughed. When we sat down I understood why.

"Of fucking course you'd make him try that place! Seriously, do you ever eat anywhere else here, Axel?"

Axel laughed, and then said, "What, it's my favorite? It's fucking good.

He was really hyping this place up. It's just grilled cheese though.

Then I took a couple bites. I looked at Axel, confused.

"And?" Axel looked at me, expectantly. It was kinda cute actually.

"How the fuck is this so good?"

"I know! Fucking love that place! They use really good quality cheese, and they make their own bread."

I dipped the sandwich into the tomato soup and let it soak a bit. Then I took a bite.

God, that's good.

I must have been making a weird face or something, because Axel was chuckling. I glared at him. Wasn't actually mad though.

"The food is really good," I said, "but they need to fire their marketing team."

Everyone at the table laughed, and then we started talking while eating our food. Demyx had some chow mein, and Zexion had Vegan noodles with vegan Alfredo sauce. Apparently even though Zexion isn't vegan, the food is really good there so he gets it pretty often. He wouldn't stop raving about it.

* * *

We finished our food and then looked at a few more shops. We looked in some clothes stores, a store that sold video games, and a novelty souvenir stand. That last one was Demyx's idea.

Thankfully I was able to get out of doing karaoke, so the last stop was to the arcade.

* * *

Demyx and Zexion were playing the DDR machine.

I had something different in mind.

"I challenge you."

"To what?" Axel asked.

"A fight to the death."

"Pretty sure that'll get us kicked out."

I laughed, and then steered him to the street fighter machine. Realization hit his face.

After a moment of silence, he said in a mock serious tone, " I accept you challenge, prepare to die."

We played… and damn, Axel is good! I'm pretty good but Axel was keeping pace with me. The first round I just barely won, nailing him with a hadouken to the face.

Second round he won with a sonic blade, but again it was close.

It all came down to this. I knocked him into the air.

He dodged and then hit me

"Ready to lose?" I asked.

"Please, after you."

Our characters kept trading blows until finally…

"YES!"

Zexion and Demyx made their way over to us after hearing the commotion.

"I can't believe you won. Axel never loses," Zexion said cooly.

"Yeah! I've never been able to beat him once! You must be pretty good, Roxy!"

I felt so triumphant. I had so much fun playing with Axel. "Not pretty good," I said, "the best." I moved my hand dramatically. Then soon joined in with the laughter.

I felt Axel's hand on my shoulder. "You're not bad, man," He said. He looked so proud.

"You're not too bad yourself." There was a pause.

"Rematch?" We both said in unison.

The second game was just as close as the first one. With Zexion and Demyx cheering us on, it was even more fun trashing talking each other.

Another close game and this time Axel came out on top. Of course rubbed it in.

"It's okay, I'll just beat you next time."

We left the arcade and made our way outside.

* * *

It was time for us to go, since it was already dark out. We all got in Axel's car, and he drove everyone home.

"Had fun tonight," I said to Axel as he walked me to the door.

"Me too." He leaned in to kiss me and we kissed long and hard.

"Have a good night, Roxy."

I looked into his eyes softly. "Yeah, have a goodnight."

I turned to go through the door, and made my way inside. And I couldn't help but smile.

And so was the end of our night. Gotta say though, this night was pretty great.

I was looking forward to many more dates with Axel to come.

* * *

Hey guys! I'd like to apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out! Thank you for your patience! I've been having a lot of health issues and so it's been hard for me to write! But anyways, i hope you liked the chapter! And I'm going to try not to take so long next time! Also that button that Zexion got was based off a button I actually got from an anime con. But anyway, I hope you have a good day, and I'll see you next chapter!

-Dant


	20. Chapter 20: Bass

Gotta say, last night was pretty great. Had a lot of fun at the mall, with Axel. It was great hanging with Demyx and Zexy, too. We gotta do that again.

In the morning, I got ready for school and made myself a bagel. While I was eating, I read the new issue of Charm that I bought yesterday, and as usual was not disappointed.

Charm used her charming powers to make a bank robber return what he stole. She even made him give the teller a tip for, "being so nice about the whole situation." Did it with her signature seductive smirk. She's such a bad ass!

* * *

At school, I talked to Zexion in band class. He had redrafted the lyrics he wrote before, and had me look at them. They were pretty good. Very introspective.

The next period, I talked to Axel in Bio. He wrote some more potential lyrics, which I read. They were good and full of angst, but I still didn't know if they'd work together with Demyx's. We had to figure out a way to make it work, or we'd have to start over.

It was at lunch though that I had my break through.

Demyx was looking over the lyrics that Zexion and Axel had written. "These are so good guys! I'm just worried that-"

"They won't fit together?" I finished.

"Yeah. I think they're really really good, but they're just too different, they just don't go well with each other!"

Yeah, that's exactly what I'd been thinking… There had to be a way though.

And then it hit me.

"Hey, guys," I said, " Zexion's is about looking inside and not liking what you see. Axel's is about lashing out at your friends. So why don't we make the song about looking inside and not liking what you see, and lashing out because of it?"

Everyone looked at me and then looked at each other.

After a moment, Axel said, "You know what babe, that could work. Let's work on that next practice."

He ruffled my hair, and felt myself blush. I was happy I could help with something at least.

The rest of lunch was spent talking excitedly about different ways we could make the songs work.

When lunch was over Axel and I kissed goodbye, and we all went our separate ways.

The rest of the school day was pretty boring, really. Glad I for once got no homework though. That never happens.

* * *

Axel and I met up after school, at our usual bench.

"Hey handsome," He said, winking at me.

"Hey," I replied, blushing. I'm not the best at expressing my feelings…

We talked about how school went as we walked to his house. Apparently Axel was reading the book _Fahrenheit 451_ for his English class.

"So the book's about how knowledge is bad, and so all books they find have to be burned. Bit dramatic, but whatever," Axel explained.

"It's distopian, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. A world where I can burn all my textbooks without having to read them and never getting punished for it sounds like a utopia to me."

We both laughed. We had made it to his house, so we went inside and headed straight to his room.

* * *

"Hey Axel," I said.

"What's up babe?" Axel looked at me with his green eyes, questioningly. God, I love how vibrant his eyes are.

"Been thinking. I know you're teaching me guitar. Still got a lot to learn. But… uh..." I paused for a moment before asking, "Can you teach me how to play bass?

He looked at me, confused for a moment. "What brought that on, babe?"

I didn't want to admit that it was because of how fucking sexy and cool he looked while playing that inspired me to ask, so I just said, "I don't know, looks cool."

He looked at me for a moment, thinking, before saying, "Yeah, sure. You've mastered the basics of guitar, honestly. I'm surprised how fast you've been able to pick it up. So learning bass wouldn't hurt anything. Besides, it's not _**too**_ different from guitar."

I was happy he agreed. He let me play on his second bass. It felt so different from guitar though.

Holding a bass was so awkward. It was bigger than the guitar that I was used to.

Also, It only has 4 strings, and everything's lower.

There's something I liked about trying the bass a lot though. After I started getting used to the notes, Axel had me play a bit of the bass line of Man Against the Machine. The part was pretty rhythmic, and since I'm a drummer I kinda liked that.

Also, it's pretty much the same as guitar, just kinda feels different.

Axel let me borrow his second bass. I think I'll probably start practicing bass pretty often; I love the sound of it.

After practice, we talked a little bit.

I guess he read the new issue of Charmed right after our date. He loved the chapter, too.

Once practice was over, he drove me home. Because he let me borrow his bass and I had brought the guitar though, it was kinda awkward to carry both. I had him carry the bass in.

* * *

"Hey honey, how was your day?" my mom asked from the other room.

"Good." I heard her get closer.

"That's goo- Oh! Hi Axel!" She looked really surprised. Kinda made me laugh.

"Hey, how are you?" Axel responded.

"Good." She looked at the guitar cases in both of our hands, and then said, "I hope you guys aren't planning on practicing here so late, I think the neighbors would have a problem with that."

Axel and I laughed and then we explained. Axel, my mom, and I had a conversation for a bit. We talked about our first date, about guitar, and the band. My mom and Axel both complimented my guitar playing, which made me blush.

After we talked for a bit, we made our way up to my room.

* * *

When I opened my door and we made our way in, he laughed.

"So many fucking checker board patterns. Are you secretly training for a checkers tournament that I don't know about?"

"No." there was a slight pause. "It's a chess tournament."

We both laughed.

I showed him where to set the bass, and then we started talking a little bit. After like 20 minutes of talking, he kissed me goodnight and then he went home.

Overall it was a pretty nice day.

Glad that it seemed like my mom and him got along. Was kinda worried about it, actually.

Finally I brushed my teeth, laid down in bed, and fell asleep.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a bit! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'd like to say that the next chapter won't take as long for me to upload... but I'm so bad at uploading consistently it's not even funny, and I feel bad for continuously lying to you! Anyways, I hope you have a good day guys, and happy day after Easter!

-Dant


	21. Chapter 21: The Phone Call

Practice had just ended for the day.

It was the Sunday before the battle of the bands, so we were practicing frantically, non stop. We had til Saturday to play as best as we could so we put our time to good use.

The extra practice was paying off. After I had figured out how to link Axel's and Zexion's different styles, we were able to come up with a new song pretty quickly.

The song was called "I Hate What I've Become." It was about how inner pain and suffering from the state of the world had changed someone, and that pain has caused him to lash out at everyone and everything around him.

The verses had lyrics of quiet reflection and sad piano. The choruses had wrathful screaming and heavy guitar. The song was honestly pretty good. A good combination of Zexion's thoughtful sadness and Axel's rebellious rage.

We hung out a little bit after practice and then Axel took me home as usual.

* * *

We hung out at my house for a little bit and Axel, my mom, and I talked for a bit. Namine even bugged us for a bit, that annoying brat.

For the last month or so Axel and I had been going back and forth on whose house we had guitar lessons at.

Well bass lessons now, I guess.

I decided that playing the bass was more fun, so Axel had been teaching me how to play the bass. Honestly, I like it a lot and am getting fairly decent!

Because we'd been going to my house fairly often, Axel and my mom would talk quite a bit to each other. I swear, they get along better than mom and I do. Both of them watch the same movies and read the same books. And I'm pretty sure my sister has a crush on him, too.

She better back off.

* * *

After a while Axel said goodbye, we kissed (Namine said, "eeeeew" when she saw us kissing because she's 'very mature' for her age), and I watched him drive off.

I went back to my room and then started practicing the bass. Axel had given me the bass lines for all of Teenage Rebellion's songs, so I started practicing those for a little bit. I knew how they were supposed to sound after hearing Axel play them so many times, so that helped me a lot. I also played the bass line for a couple of songs people made on sound cloud. That was always pretty fun.

I put the bass back into its case, and started texting in a group chat with Olette, Hayner, and Pence.

I was talking to them about the battle of the bands, the songs we were playing, and how nervous I was about it.

Olette messaged me, "Don't worry, Rox! You got this! You've always been great on drums!"

Hayner messaged, "Make your man Axel proud, you hear?"

Pence messaged, "Don't stress so much! You'll do great!"

I smiled. They were always so supportive. I laughed, before sending, "As long as I don't trip on stage I think I'll be good. Thanks guys."

* * *

I ate dinner really quick. There was leftover roast in the fridge. It was pretty good, but mom went crazy with the coriander again. I didn't bother telling her though, 'cause she never listens to me when it comes to cooking. Then again, only things I know about cooking are from the cooking channel… so I guess I can't blame her.

I had a bit of reading to do for English, so even though it was getting late I started reading the chapter. My fault for not doing it earlier… but I decided that practicing for the battle of the bands and hanging out with everyone at the mall was more important. At least I have my priorities straight.

I had just finished my reading when I heard my phone going off.

Who was calling at 10 at night?

* * *

I looked at my phone. It said Axel, so I picked it up and answered the phone.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

I heard a laugh. It sounded like a woman, which confused me.

"Hey 'honey' this is Axel's mom." Her tone was light-hearted.

I relaxed after realizing who it was, then became confused again. Why was she calling me?

"Hey, why are you calling me? Everything alright"

"Unfortunately Axel fell down the stairs to the garage to get something. He tried to catch himself, but in the process fell on his right arm. It isn't too serious, but he definitely broke it."

Without thinking I said quickly, "Fuck, where is he? Are you sure he's alright?"

"He's at the River Valley Hospital. You can visit tomorrow if you'd like, but visiting hours are over. They're letting me stay though since I'm his mom. Don't worry he's fine, he just needs rest. He'll be here for a couple days. Axel told me to give a call to everyone in the band so you guys know what's happening. Especially with the battle of the bands happening soon."

"Okay let him know I'll be there tomorrow after school. Thank you."

"Of course, anything for future family!"

I felt myself blush and roll my eyes. "Bye."

"Have a good night, hun. I'll make sure he's safe for you."

Click.

* * *

It took a moment for it all to sink in.

I hope Axel's going to be okay. I know she said he'd be fine, but how does she know? God, I'm fucking worried. Well I'm just going to have to wait until tomorrow after school, I guess…

And then I realized something else….

FUCK! How's Axel gonna play at the battle of the bands!?

* * *

Dun dun duuuuun! Hahahaha! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry it's been so long, but I seriously appreciate the patience! Make sure to tune in to next chapter! And I'll try my best not to take as long this time, okay! Have a good day, guys!

-Dant


	22. Chapter 22: The Hospital Visit

It was the next day now.

Had a hard time sleeping 'cause I was worried 'bout Axel.

Dumb ass, making me worry about him.

Didn't help that my head wouldn't stop racing, trying to come up with how we would still be able to play at the battle of the bands. I know the band has been preparing forever for this, so I didn't want them to have to give up our dream of winning the battle of the bands.

* * *

I went to school.

Not much happened, really. Biology was kinda depressing without Axel there. Had to actually pay attention in class for once… Well, I decided to take a nap after paying attention for a few minutes. That class is so boring, can you blame me?

At lunch we all talked about what we were gonna do.

I said through the chatter of the lunch room, "Well Axel can't play with a broken arm, so what are we gonna do?"

"Can't do much. Drop out, I guess..." As Zexion said this, I could tell he was disapointed

"No!" Demyx interjected, much too loudly as per usual. "No, there has to be something we can do! We've been practicing for months and months and months and I'm not going to give up just like that!"

"Well," I said slowly, "I can't think of anything. Can you?"

"No..." Zexion and Demyx said in unison. I saw them visibly get more depressed.

"Well let's go to the hospital after school and see how Axel's doing. We'll see if he can think of anything."

We all agreed that Demyx would drive us to the hospital after school.

* * *

After that the lunch bell rang. I had been tempted to skip class and go to the hospital right away… But when I texted Axel saying I was thinking of doing that, he said he'd kick my ass if I did. So I went to the rest of my classes.

What a pain.

When the final bell rang, Zexion and I headed out of the Algebra classroom and into the hall.

* * *

As we were walking towards the parking lot where Demyx's car was however, I saw Clyde coming out of a classroom. We locked eyes, and Zexion and I stopped.

He looked shocked for a second, then pissed off, but also…

He looked like he wanted to say something to me.

He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, and then closed it, shook his head, and just laughed.

Then he walked passed us. Probably a good thing too. People around us were pissed that we stopped in the middle of the hallway.

We started moving again, making our way outside to the parking lot.

* * *

Demyx was already at his car, waiting for us.

"Okay guys, are we ready to roll?" Demyx asked.

We both nodded, got into the car, and Demyx started driving us to River Valley Hospital. Took about 15 minutes to get there.

When we went inside and asked the receptionist if we could visit Axel, she said there were already 2 people visiting him, and only 4 were allowed at a time. She said she'd make an exception though, as long as we weren't too loud.

She pointed us to room 135 where he was, and we thanked her.

We walked down the hall toward where Axel was, curious who else was visiting him. About to enter the room, I heard Axel say angrily, "Why are you here?" I could hear indignation in his voice.

We opened the door and came in.

"Because your mom asked me to come. Figured I might as well kill some time," Clyde said in a tone that made me want to punch him in the face.

Everyone turned and looked at us. It was Axel, Axel's mom, and Clyde.

"Hey, babe," I said quietly, looking at him before looking down… Seems like we interrupted something…

"Hey, babe," Axel answered back softly, "thanks for coming, guys." He turned back to Clyde, and anger returning to his voice, he said plainly, "You can leave now."

Clyde looked at me, then back to Axel. He had that expression he had earlier at school. After a moment, Clyde finally said, "Wait. Before I go, I need to say something. I've been a real dick to you guys, and I'm sorry." He looked at all of us as he said this. "There's… something I need to tell you though. The, uh, reason I was such a dick." He paused for a long time, looking like he was about to say something but couldn't. The silence seemed deafening. What was he going to say?

After the long pause, he said quickly, "Roxas, meet me in the lobby after you talk to Axel. I'll tell you about it,"

And just like that he walked past us, out of the room.

We looked at each other, confused.

We talked about Axel's injuries. Axel said he was fine, and that he'd be able to leave at 7. I guess the main reason they were staying in the hospital for so long was because Axel's mom wanted to make sure he didn't do anything stupid after he just got his arm put in a cast.

Axel told us everything that the Dr. told them about his arm, and it seemed like everything would be alright. Thank fucking god.

I kissed Axel quickly, said I'd be back soon, and told them I was going to talk to Clyde.

"Okay babe. If things get ugly, go for the balls." he said, deviously.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Then I went out to the hospital lobby to where Clyde was.

* * *

"What did you want to say, Clyde?" I tried to say this calmly, but a bit of venom stained my tone.

"I..." continued Clyde. "I'm…" he continued, hesitantly.

"What is it man? Spit it out!" I said, Irritated. I just wanted to know he kept treating me like trash.

"I'm sorry I was such a prick to you. You did nothing wrong, I just… I..."

I was starting to get a little worried when Clyde looked like he was about to cry.

"I was a prick to everyone to hide how I really felt. I actually really liked everyone, and I… uh… had real feelings toward Axel… I didn't want anyone to know I was gay, and I still didn't accept that about myself at the time, so I tried to be a dick to hide it… sorry man..." He trailed off.

I was stunned. Wait, what the fuck just happened?

Noticing I was too shocked to speak, he said, "The reason I was so mean to you when I realized you guys were dating and sleeping together was because I really wanted that to be me..."

Again, I still couldn't speak, my mind trying to comprehend what he just said and all that it meant.

"I'm dating this guy Carlos, though. He's really sweet, and is really helping me realized how badly I treated you guys. I get if you don't forgive me, man. I was a real douche.

It took me another 15 second of silence before I said matter-of-factly, "Yeah, you really were a dick."

He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"But I get it. I've been a dick to cover my true feelings before too. Doesn't make you any less of a dick, but I don't hold it against you too much. Why didn't you say that in front of everyone, though?

"Are you kidding me? Only three people know I like guys. It's so hard to say out loud, especially to the person you used to really like and his mother..."

Yeah, good point.

"Listen," Clyde said, "I hope we can be friends again, because you're not too bad." There was no hint of his usual smugness in his tone. It was like I was talking to a different person. Like who I thought he was was an act to hide who he really was.

"We'll see, man." It was a lot to process.

"Yeah, I get it. And uh, feel free to tell Axel what I told you. I'm sure he'll ask."

Surprised, I agreed.

He waved goodbye and walked out of the hospital. I walked back to Axel's room.

* * *

When I got back, I told Axel and everyone else what Clyde told me.

I had wondered if anyone suspected that Clyde had feelings towards Axel, and according to their dumbfounded expressions, they didn't. Well everyone but Axel's mom. She looked as composed as always.

"Man, dude!" Demyx broke the silence. "I had no clue he felt that way!"

"Yeah, me neither," Zexion said cooly.

"Huh, so that's why he'd get so mad when I'd invite Zexy and Demyx to places with us..." Axel said.

I told them about when I thought I saw Clyde with a guy at the skating rink.

"That's probably Carlos, his new love!" Demyx said excitedly.

"Yeah, probably," I agreed

And then Axel turned to his mom and asked, "Mom, why exactly did you invite Clyde? It makes no sense."

"Well hun, you said to invite everyone from the band, and that includes Clyde."

"But mom, he hasn't been a part of the group for over a month"

"But he's been there for you since the beginning. Besides, I've known for a couple of years that Clyde had feelings for you, so I gathered that he'd want to be here for you."

"Wait, you knew?" Axel asked, confused.

"Of course I knew! It was pretty obvious, hun!"

I laughed. Of course she knew, Axel's mom knew everything! Nothing got passed her.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell, hun."

We continued talking for a bit, until Axel's mom finally said what we were all thinking. "I'm sorry that you guys won't be able to play in the battle of the bands… And you guys worked so hard!" I could feel her sympathy for us.

"Come on!" Axel said, "I can still play! I just gotta learn how to play with a cast on!"

We all laughed. "You better not, or else I'll break your other arm babe," I said playfully.

Demyx said "Eww guys, stop flirting! We're right here!"

We laughed.

Axel said, "Yeah, I'd deserve that. It's a shame though that we won't be able to play. I'm sorry guys, it's all my fault." I could tell from his face that he really did blame himself.

We all told him it was alright, that it was an accident.

"Yeah, still though..." Axel trailed off, spacing out. He looked so defeated.

Then suddenly…

* * *

"Wait! I have an idea, guys." Axel said, realization striking his beautiful features.

"What? What is it, man?" Demyx asked.

"Babe, after our lessons you've gotten good at the bass. You're not as good as I am, of course. I'm the greatest and most humble bass player of all time!" I rolled my eyes at this.

"But seriously," he continued, "you've gotten decent at playing the bass. Even if I can't play because of my arm, I can still sing. And then you can play the bass, babe. That way we can still compete."

I looked at him, confused. "But I suck at the bass!"

Zexion, Demyx, and I all turned to him.

"You're honestly pretty good babe! And you already know the parts."

"Okay," I said slowly, still in disbelief, "but if I play the bass, then who's going to play drums?"

"Well," Axel said after a short pause, "I was thinking Clyde."

Wait… wait what!?

* * *

Hey guys, I hope you like the chapter! I'm so sorry about the wait, I've been having some pretty serious health problems unfortunately, so it's been hard to write! Anyways, I hope you guys have a great day and I'll see you next chapter! Bye!

-Dant


	23. Chapter 23: Reconciliation

Demyx, Xexion, and I all looked at Axel, dumb struck.

"But…" Demyx started, "But he was such a prick to us! Can we really just forgive him like that?"

"He was," I said. "He was, but I've been there myself. Trying to act different than how I felt so nobody would know I was gay… Fearing that people wouldn't accept that part of me that I was having a hard time accepting myself… Listen, I know we can't just forgive his behavior completely. He was a dick to us… But I can understand why he acted that way. I've been there, too."

I looked up at everyone. They were lost in thought. Then finally, Demyx spoke up.

"Yeah… It all makes sense now… and clearly he feels absolutely terrible about his actions. We should give him a second chance. At least during the battle of the bands!"

"We should ask him to play," Zexion agreed.

"Alright guys, it's settled!" Axel said, "Once I get home, I'll ask Clyde if he wants to help us out!" Axel then turned to his mom, and asked, "And then we can all meet at my house at 730 and practice?"

Axel's mom smiled gently, nodded, and said, "But only if you promise not to try to play the bass, honey!

"Mom, I'm smarter then that!" Axel said, and then turned to me, "Do you think you can teach me how to play the drums?"

We laughed, and then we agreed to meet at Axel's house at 7:30. Even if Clyde said no, we could still all hang out.

* * *

We decided to hang out at my house until it was time to hang out at Axel's, since my house was closest.

We played Martian Mania in my room. It's a game where you're a martian destroying the world. Pretty fun.

Zexion and Demyx met my mom and sister, and they seemed to get along pretty well actually.

Finally it was time to head to Axel's.

* * *

When we arrived at his house, we made our way straight to the garage. Axel had everything set up.

"Hey guys!" He greeted us, smiling warmly. I went up to him and kissed him.

"Hey babe, so is Clyde coming?"

"Yeah, said he had to do something but he'll be over in 30 minutes."

"Okay, sweet," Demyx said excitedly, "we're back in the game! Battle of the Bands, here we come!"

Demyx repeatedly pumped his hand up and down, enthusiastically.

I couldn't help but laugh at Demyx's enthusiasm. Gotta say though, I was relieved we'd still be able to play now.

Then I felt nervous again. "Guys, I really don't know if I'll be good enough for this… I'm still learning."

I felt Axel put a hand on my shoulder. "You got this, babe. I believe in you," Axel said, looking directly into my eyes. I could see the sincerity in his eyes. It made my heart beat.

"I believe in you, Roxy! I know you'll do great! If Axel says you're good, you must be good!" Demyx said much too loudly for such a small space.

"You'll do great," Zexion said, cooly.

"Okay, I'll try my best," I said as I opened the bass case and got out the bass. I started tuning the bass, using a pitch pipe app on my phone.

Axel had given me the tabs for all the songs before, but I forgot them at home. He wrote them down for me again. Unfortunately, with his right hand in a cast and with him being right handed, he had to write with his left hand.

And even though he was just writing simple letters, it looked like a child had scrawled on the paper.

It was hard not to laugh.

Axel looked over at me, blushing and then said, "Maybe you should write this down instead, babe..."

"Probably," I said, smiling. "I mean, assuming you want me to be able to read it."

I wrote down the chord names for each of the songs. Since I had listened to all of the songs a million times, and since I had practiced all of them besides the new one multiple times at home, I thought I had a pretty good handle on how the bass line went.

Still, I was nervous, and I was dreading embarrassing myself.

As I finished writing the last chords down, Clyde came in.

"Hey, uh, guys!" Clyde said, trying to sound casual. His shaky voice and tense shoulders gave him away.

"Hey man! It's good to have you back!" Demyx said excitedly.

"Yeah." Zexion said.

We caught up a bit. Clyde apologized to us again, and we all said it was fine. Then we talked about his new boyfriend, how the band has been, the new song, school, and a bunch of other things.

After we talked for a while, Clyde noticeably relaxed, and it was like nothing had ever happened. Honestly, Clyde was a lot nicer than I remembered him being. Which made things go a lot smoother than I had hoped.

"Okay," Axel said loudly, "Let's get to practicing! We need to show Clyde the new song! Babe, can you show Clyde the drum part?"

"I'm on it."

We ran through "I Hate What I've Become" twice without bass, so Clyde could hear it and learn the drum line.

After playing the drums, in my element, my nerves relaxed a lot.

"Wow, you're pretty good man," Clyde said to me.

I blushed lightly. "Uh, thanks."

Clyde started practicing a bit, to get some of the rhythms down. Meanwhile, I took out the bass and started playing the chord progressions for the song, trying to get the transitions nice and smooth.

* * *

The night went by pretty fast after that. We kept practicing "I Hate What I've Become." Axel's mom brought us some of her delicious lemonade.

Honestly, it was a pretty nice night, even though my mom nearly killed me for getting back at 11.

* * *

The rest of the week continued without anything too remarkable happening. I spent my study hall time in one of the practice rooms in the band room. Then every night we practiced playing at Axel's house.

We were getting pretty good. Even Clyde, who wasn't always the best before now went all out and did great.

After every run through of a song, Axel would give us all advice on how to improve.

Each time we took his advice, and we got even better.

I had been nervous and a bit shaky at first on the bass, but by the time Friday night hit, I think I found my groove.

"You're sounding great, babe," Axel had said and then kissed me. "Pretty soon you'll be able to replace me."

I laughed, and said, "I don't know about that, but don't do anything to tempt me." We both laughed

Once it was time to end Friday night's practice, Axel said, "Okay guys, we're sounding pretty good. It's really coming together. Try to get some rest tonight, and then meet here at 11 tomorrow morning so we can practice a bit before the battle of the bands. And Zexy, try not to talk too much. Don't want to strain your voice." He winked.

"I'll try," Zexion said blandly, with just a hint of sarcasm.

Then Axel drove me home and it was time to try to get some sleep before the big day tomorrow.

* * *

Okay guys! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! There are only a couple chapters left now, which is bittersweet! Anyways, I hope everyone has a good day, I'll see you next chapter!

-Dant


	24. Chapter 24: Battle of the Bands

It was finally the day of the Battle of the Bands. The day we've been preparing for.

Woke up fucking nervous.

We met up at Axel's to practice a bit, like we planned. I had been practicing a lot, and honestly I did pretty good with the bass. I'm finally starting to believe Axel a bit when he says I've gotten good. Thank god I'm a fast learner.

I was pleased to see that Clyde had gotten a lot better at the drum parts once he actually put effort in, and honestly he was pretty good.

* * *

Before we knew it, it was time to go to the Battle.

It was held at an old theater auditorium across town. A pretty big one.

We took our place in the seating reserved for the bands. Looking around at the other bands, it was pretty clear that there were a ton of different types of bands. Lotta different colored hair, tattoos, and flannel though.

Clyde's boyfriend, Carlos, found us and wished us luck.

Carlos came to a couple practices this past week, and he seems really sweet. And I can tell he and Clyde really like each other, the way they get lost in each other's eyes.

Carlos left to go back to his seat.

The battle was gonna start pretty soon. I felt myself swallow.

"You nervous babe?" Axel asked me. He put his hand on my thigh and rubbed it gently.

"No," I lied. Fucking nervous as hell.

"We're gonna do great, Roxy!" Demyx said loudly, "We're gonna wipe the floor with the competition! They won't know what hit them!"

"Babe, quiet down. The competition can hear you," Zexion said cooly with a slight grin.

It's true, a few people turned in response to Demyx's comment.

They all seemed to be smiling, though. Nobody seemed offended, thank god. Last thing we need is enemies.

"We got this!" Clyde said. He was always so much more animated after seeing Carlos. It's kinda cute, actually.

I heard a voice behind me. "Hey, fancy seeing you here!"

* * *

I turned around and saw Hayner, Olette and Pence all beaming at me.

"Guys! I didnt think you'd come! I missed you guys!" I said, giving everyone a hug.

"We had to come to support our friend!" Olette said, smiling.

"Can't wait to hear you guys play!" Pence said.

"Yeah, seriously can't wait, man! I'm gonna make sure to record the whole thing!" Hayner said, and he put his hand on my shoulder.

I introduced them to everyone in the band.

"So you're the famous Axel, huh? Roxy's crazy about ya, ya know?" Hayner said to Axel. I blushed and hit Hayner's arm.

"Oh, I know he is!" Axel said, turning to me and giving me a quick kiss.

"Aww, you guys are so sweet!" Olette said sweetly.

"You guys should go get a room!"Pence said, laughing.

"We will," Axel said slyly, "After we win the Battle of the bands!" Everyone laughed.

* * *

The lights started to dim and the announcer was starting to welcome everyone. Hayner, Olette and Pence wished us luck and then went back to their seats.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the River Side Battle of the Bands!" the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers. People cheered.

"Time to see which band is the best! Running through the grand prizes, the 3rd place band will get free taco bell for a week vouchers."

Cheering.

"The second place band will get $3,000 dollars."

The cheering got louder.

"And the first place band will get recognition as being the best of the best, $5,000 dollars, and free recording time!"

The cheering grew insane!

"Now without further adieu, let's start the battle with _Bowling for Stew_!"

* * *

The first band, Bowling for Stew, clearly took inspiration from Bowling for Soup. They had some good guitar parts, their riffs were solid, and the lyrics weren't bad.

It sunk in that there were going to be some pretty talented bands performing.

The next band was a ska punk band that was seriously good, like really good. They were all wearing flannel and black skinny jeans. The ska parts grooved and the punk vocals were really good.

There was a country band that was alright, with members wearing flannel and blue jeans.

There was a pop punk band that went pretty hard. The leader singer was really cute. Axel agreed.

There was a rapper with his beat boxing friend that literally got booed off the stage. They were absolutely terrible!

At least we know one band we'll be able to beat.

There was a heavy metal band that was absolutely electric, and I couldn't understand a single word, just like metal should be.

There was a pianist playing classical music, who was good I guess, but, uh, not exactly what people come to the battle of the bands for.

There was a funk group that had a really good groove, and after them was an a capella metal band that did a really good job imitating metal guitars.

Soon, it was our time to get miked up and prepare for our entrance. We listened to the band on sage performing while we were backstage. A group of Motown singers.

What was with all these different weird genres?

Finally, the Motown group finished their set, and it was time for us to set up our equipment.

I plugged the bass in, and waited for everyone else to settle in. The anticipation hit me. This is it. Gotta try our best.

Finally, the announcer said, "Welcome to the stage Teenage Rebellion!"

The cheers were loud, and the stage lights were blinding. I gulped.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Axel said in my ear, "Don't worry babe, you got this. Let's show them how great we are!"

He had a cocky grin on his face, and I felt myself blush and my heart flutter. Okay, he goes nothing!

* * *

We started off our set with _My Dirty Little Secret_. The piano started and Zexion's lyrics and voice full of emotion filled the theater. We decided to start soft and then get louder with each song.

I played the last chord, and then everyone cheered. I smiled. Seems like we did pretty well. I think I did alright, and we fit together pretty well.

Next we played _I Hate What I've Become_. Axel's screaming vocals and Zexion's soft vocals contrasted really well. Demyx and I found a good groove together, our bass and guitar playing meshing well. Clyde's drumming was super solid, too.

Once we were done the cheering was even louder this time. We did really well. Probably one of the best times we've played it.

It was time to finish our set with _Man Against the Machine_.

The song started with Clyde's drumming, and man, he was on top of it. His drumming was really good on this song, and it helped the song come alive. Demyx's guitar part and my bass part reverberated throughout the room, and Zexion's piano blended everything together.

The real star though was Axel's heavy vocals. His screaming was so full of angst and resentment that it made me shiver a bit.

Man, he's giving his all.

When we finished, the crowd cheered like crazy. They seriously loved it! I felt myself beam. We did it! We played and did such a good job! Damn, this was great.

* * *

After we finished we went back to our seats and watched the rest of the bands perform.

There was a rave techno band that was pretty decent. Their set made me wanna dance, so mission accomplished I guess.

A quintet of strings played some really beautiful music and then a jazz quartet played.

The last band to play was a hip hop group. Unlike the previous rapper, this rapper had a good flow, and their songs were pretty catchy.

"Okay guys, this marks the end of the battle," the announcer's voice boomed, "but the war is far from over! Now it's up to our judges to decide who's the best of the best! So don't leave yet!"

* * *

The main lights shot back on and the spotlights and stage lights faded.

The theater was filled almost immediately with loud conversations, as crowds of people got out of their seats to go to the bathroom and to talk to the different bands.

I saw Olette, Hayner, and Pence come up to us through the chaos.

"You guys did so great!" Olette said.

"Yeah, third song was may favorite, I think!" Pence added.

"I'm sure you guys will take the number one slot!" Hayner said, excitedly.

"That's what I said!" Demyx said, also excitedly.

I swear, if these guys lived closer together they'd be best friends. Although I guess I could see that with just about all of them.

"We did well, but we had some tight competition," Axel said, looking at the rest of the band. Everyone agreed.

" _Really Dig Fish_ was incredible," Zexion said. That was the ska punk band.

"Yeah, and that metal band _Orange Chapel_ was really good, too," I said

"Oh, that funk band, _Funkademic!_ " Olette said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait..." Axel said, his voice trailing off. I could tell he was worried.

"What is it babe?" I asked, squeezing his arm.

"I'm just… I'm worried we didn't do enough to win… There are some really solid groups here, and I think it's pretty neck and neck." I could tell that this was weighing on him pretty hard. Makes sense, the band had been practicing for this all year.

"Babe, whatever happens, we did really good." I continued to say to the rest of the group, "We did a really good job today, guys. No matter what, we can be proud of that." I smiled at all of them.

"Aww," Demyx said as he launched into me to give me a hug. "Since when did you become such a softie, Roxie!"

"Sh-shut up..." I said, blushing and looking down.

We all laughed.

* * *

After that we talked a bit more about the bands, I caught up with Pence, and we tried our best to distract each other from how nervous we were.

Then we heard the loud voice of the announcer say, "Alright everyone, it's finally time to announce the winners. Find your seats!"

Everyone scrambled back to their seats, and I heard Hayner yell, "Good luck guys!"

"Okay, we had a blast and heard some amazing performances! But who was the best of the best? Well, in third place, we haaaaave..." The announcer paused dramatically.

I gulped, and squeezed Axel's thigh next to me nervously.

The anticipation was killing me.

* * *

Okay guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I can't believe that next chapter will be the final one! Make sure not to miss it! I'll see you guys next time, and thanks for reading!

-Dant


	25. Chapter 25: The End

"Well, in third place we haaaaaaaaave…." The announcer paused for dramatic effect, "Oraaaange Chapeeeel!"

The crowd cheered wildly. The band was really good, so they deserved it.

"Come up here guys, and claim your vouchers! Save me a taco or two!"

Orange Chapel came up to the stage, got their vouchers, their picture was taken and then they sat down.

I looked at Axel and said, "What do you think, did we place?"

"Man, I hope so… We put our all into it. But the competition's tough. No shame in not placing. Like you said, we did a great job. Gotta be proud of that."

I blushed, after hearing Axel use my own words.

Then the announcer said loudly, "Alright! Let's see who was the second best band of the night! And let me tell you, it was a close one! The difference between second and first place was two points!"

I heard Demyx whistle.

As the announcer started saying, "So the second best band of the night iiiiiiis,"

I put my hand on Axel's leg, squeezing it nervously. I was a nervous wreck.

He looked me in the eyes and smiled reassuringly. His eyes were full of warmth and I felt suddenly at ease.

"Teenage Rebelllllion!"

The cheering was insane.

I was in complete disbelief and just sat there for a moment. I heard Demyx scream, "Yeeeees!"

This can't be real.

Axel hit my arm gently and said, "Babe, we need to go on stage." He chuckled softly. The band looked so happy, and it finally sunk in.

"We got second place! Yes!" I screamed, and I got out of my seat, making my way to the stage.

"Here is your prize money guys! You deserve it!" He handed Demyx a giant check with three thousand dollars written on it. It was like we were in one of those clearing house commercials. Except this was real. This was really happening.

I looked at Axel and I couldn't stop beaming. He looked at me, beaming too, and then he closed the distance between us and kissed me deeply.

I kissed him back passionately, hearing wolf whistles from the crowd. I fet myself melt into the kiss. We pulled away, and as he looked at me I could see the love in his eyes.

I felt like I could die of happiness.

* * *

Things went by pretty fast after that. Really Dig Fish won the battle the bands, which I definitely agree with since they were fucking great.

After winning second place, Axel's mom prepared a party for us, and Hayner, Pence, Olette, and my family came, too. We had cake, balloons, streamers, the whole nine yards.

It was really sweet.

We were also put into contact with a management team that had watched the battle of the bands.

After making sure he was the real deal and that he was reputable, we set up some shows during the summer that we could play to promote our band and get paid. A wedding, a bar mitzvah, a couple festivals, and some other things in the works.

We decided to use the prize money toward recording time and management fees. We're planning on recording some singles and giving copies to different producers and the local radio station.

We decided that Clyde would be with us until Axel's arm healed and he could play again, which would be after about half the summer. Clyde was totally cool with that, feeling like it was the least he could do to apologize for how he treated us.

Damn straight.

Before I knew it, finals were over and school was out.

* * *

It was the first day of summer and Axel, Demyx, Zexion, Clyde, Carlos, and I were going to the mall for a triple date.

I kissed Axel and then got into his car to head over to the mall. We were still buckling in.

"You looking forward to going to the mall again, babe?" Axel asked, smiling over to me. Love filled his brilliant green eyes. My heart sipped a beat.

"I look forward to doing just about everything with you, babe," I said softly. Axel looked at me, shocked but then smiled warmly.

Fuck, I didn't mean to say that out loud!

Then I felt Axel's lips on mine, and I snaked my hands around his back.

As I tried to lean forward to deepen the kiss however, the seat belt stopped me from moving any closer.

"Fucking cock block!" I yelled at the seat belt, and I heard Axel chuckle again.

Then he leaned forward and kissed me again.

I'm looking forward to spending the summer with the rest of the band.

And spending more alone time with Axel.

And you know what? I guess life ain't so bad after all.

* * *

Thank you everyone for reading the full story! It seriously means so much!

I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it!

Thank you so much for your love, support, and feed back. The fact that I had people reading every week is so weird to think about, and I'm seriously so grateful for that.

Also, I re-read the story, and It's crazy how much my style changed throughout the story as I was trying to figure out my style and grow. I'd encourage any writers out there to do the same, it's always a good way to reflect!

My next story is going to be Sora and Riku, in a completely different style, so if that sparks your interest, make sure to keep an eye out for it!

But either way thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story!

-Dant


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